I Am The Swarm

In fact, there is another major difference between Luo Wen’s Fold Crossing skill and the Ji Race’s wormholes. While the Ji Race’s wormholes require fixed energy parameters based on the distance between two points and the size of the wormhole, Luo Wen’s Fold Crossing skill is a growth-based ability.

As Luo Wen’s connection to this universe deepens and his own strength increases, the energy required for him to open a hole in this universe decreases. Moreover, since there is no concept of distance outside of dimensions, the energy cost for Luo Wen to Fold Cross one kilometer or one light-year within this universe is almost the same.

Currently, the main constraint on Luo Wen’s use of this ability is energy. Although Luo Wen no longer needs to detonate a Swarm Megastructure to perform a Fold Crossing, the energy required is still enormous.

Fortunately, the Swarm has now entered the dark energy system, and Luo Wen has also allocated resources to related research. With the collective efforts of countless scientific minds, some theoretical results have already been achieved, waiting to be realized in the future.

After passing through the Star Gate, the Ji Race ship carrying the node units did not linger, as it had already undergone maintenance. Instead, it moved to a safe distance and then entered warp speed.

Their destination was some distance from the Star Gate. Although the ship was fast, it still took nearly five years to exit warp space and begin deceleration.

It was at this moment, in a place far from Swarm territory, that a node unit was discovered. It had been sitting there, offline, until the arrival of the anchor unit brought it back into the Swarm Network.

Since Luo Wen had been paying attention to this anchor unit deep within the Interstellar Technological Confederation, he noticed the node unit immediately.

Most node units within the Confederation were concentrated near the Swarm’s borders, with very few located deep within the Confederation, let alone one thousands of light-years away from Swarm territory.

However, Luo Wen soon frowned. The node unit was a piece of Swarm-produced biological armor. This result wasn’t surprising. Within the Confederation, aside from the Swarm and Riken researchers, most node units were either longevity serums or modified biological armor.

Among these, the items most likely to reach the far corners of the Confederation were the longevity serums and biological armor sold to distant regions. While longevity serums transformed normal organisms into node units, biological armor itself was a node unit, even without a host.

This made it more likely for biological armor to appear in such remote locations, as merchants were more willing to sell these high-value, custom-made items to distant markets.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, the biological armor lacked visual organs. It only had a hidden auditory system to record events.

Luo Wen quickly browsed through the recorded content. Most of it was mundane interstellar travel, with nothing noteworthy.

However, after it was sold, a name that caught Luo Wen’s attention appeared: Cecil, the Ji Race elder who had spoken with Elder Humes and then gone offline.

Based on subsequent audio recordings, many of which were in unique languages, Luo Wen quickly accessed relevant information in the Swarm Network to help decipher the recordings.

Soon, he figured out some things. For example, at an auction in another star system, Cecil had fought her way through fierce competition and paid a hefty price to acquire this piece of biological armor.

Luo Wen couldn’t help but marvel at the twists of fate. Elder Humes had tried everything to contact Cecil and send her a set of biological armor but had failed.

Unexpectedly, Cecil had managed to obtain a set of biological armor through an auction. Luo Wen hurriedly continued to read and decode the recordings, wanting to know what Cecil had done and why she had cut off contact with Elder Humes.

After all, Luo Wen was still curious about why his earlier plans and manipulations had led to this outcome.

Strangely, after acquiring the biological armor, Cecil did not use it. This was highly illogical. Although the Swarm was often portrayed as cunning, brutal, and uncivilized, the biological armor produced by the Swarm had an impeccable reputation. It was one of the few zero-complaint products in the Confederation.

Given its bloodline-binding properties, most people would use it immediately after acquiring it, unless they intended to resell it. But Cecil’s behavior? Did she want to be a middleman?

Luo Wen frowned. Due to its immense value, Cecil had stored the biological armor in a highly secure location.

While this was indeed the safest way to handle truly valuable items, for Luo Wen, high-security locations meant airtight sealing. Since the biological armor had been stored away, there had been no useful information, which disappointed Luo Wen.

However, since the biological armor hadn’t been moved, Cecil was likely still here. There was still a chance to figure out what had happened.

Although Luo Wen didn’t know what security measures were in place at the biological armor’s location, he could imagine the security measure for high-value item storage. Any abnormal changes to the biological armor would likely trigger alarms.

Therefore, the biological armor itself couldn’t be manipulated. It would have to remain a passive object, true to its definition.

If this situation had been discovered in the past, it might have led to a deadlock. Fortunately, not only had the anchor unit arrived, but several other node units had also reached this location.

Within a few light-years, there were only a handful of places to settle. Therefore, as long as Cecil didn’t leave, there was still a chance.

The location of the biological armor had been calculated by the Intelligent Entities. It was on the only habitable planet in the vicinity. Unfortunately, perhaps because the Ji Race ship carrying the anchor unit was transporting researchers in biological sciences—a field often associated with certain dangers—the ship did not dock directly on the habitable planet.

Instead, it docked at a large artificial satellite in the planet’s orbit.

This artificial satellite was massive, with a diameter of over five hundred kilometers. Its sheer size even caused some tidal effects on the habitable planet. In addition to serving as a starport, the satellite housed numerous laboratories, most of which were focused on biological sciences.

Surrounding the artificial satellite were several space stations of various sizes. These stations conducted research on highly dangerous topics, requiring separate facilities to isolate them in case of safety hazards.