I Am The Swarm

“Perhaps it was because the Qi Civilization’s temporal interference technology wasn’t yet perfected—or maybe for other reasons—but in any case, all the teams sent before the one that arrived in our galaxy had failed,” Lumina said softly, continuing her story.

“Then… Did the Qi team that came to this galaxy succeed?” Sarah asked.

At the question, Lumina shook her head. “To the Qi Civilization, the success or failure of any dispatched team would immediately reflect back into their present timeline. But to us, who exist in the past relative to that point, we must follow the linear flow of time. Only by living through everything can we come to know whether they ultimately succeeded.”

Seeing Sarah nod without further questioning, Lumina went on.

“Through careful calculations, the Qi Civilization locked onto the origin point of their enemy, adjusting their timeline target to an era when that enemy had just emerged from a primitive, savage state. Due to the limitations of their time-travel technology, the mission team consisted of only ten members. However, they brought with them an eight-meter-long miniature spacecraft equipped with production facilities and weaponry—sufficient to wipe out an early spacefaring civilization, or even a mid-tier one. A mere primitive society, naturally, would pose no challenge.”

“But when this team arrived in the galaxy, they found it completely different from what they had anticipated. The region was too quiet. They found no species matching the descriptions—no signs of intelligent life at all.”

“Their time travel was one-way. The Qi Civilization could send them here, but had no way of bringing them back. But all members of the team were the most loyal warriors of their civilization. They had known the risks the moment they took the mission.”

“Though the situation was not as expected, the Qi had already accounted for such anomalies, having analyzed many possible causes of their prior failures. This was just one of them.”

“According to their contingency plans, the team selected a suitable planet to land on and deployed the miniature integrated factory they had brought. Though compact, it was immensely powerful. Given enough time, it could develop a complete industrial system. And in this barren galaxy, time was the one resource they had in abundance.”

“The integrated factory, as per its programming, began by producing multipurpose robots, which gradually assembled larger factories and began terraforming the planet. The ice layers in the crust melted. An atmosphere formed. Life appeared.”

At this point, Lumina paused. Sarah tactfully asked, “Why did they do that?”

“The Qi Civilization believed that their calculated location was correct. The only variable must have been the time—after all, their research in that area was incomplete. A time error meant either arriving too early or too late. In the case of this team, the signs clearly pointed to arriving too early.”

“But that doesn’t add up,” Sarah said, furrowing her brow. “If the location was right, why did only one team make it here?”

Lumina shook her head. “I don’t know. That area of knowledge is beyond me. But I speculate—perhaps all previous teams failed… or maybe their temporal jumps were spread out across over 1.36 million years.”

Sarah nodded slightly, indicating for her to continue.

“The Qi Civilization realized that even if they arrived before their enemy’s birth and established a vast mechanical dominion, eventually, the mission team would die. Without their oversight, if the machines malfunctioned, it could backfire—possibly even creating the very enemy they sought to prevent.”

“So they devised a better solution: to create a new race in the birthplace of their enemy, one that would replace the original and permanently alter the region’s natural path.”

“Couldn’t they just blow up all the planets in the galaxy? That shouldn’t be a challenge for a civilization like Qi,” Sarah interjected with another sharp question.

“True. But the Qi Civilization had their reasons. They didn’t want the mission team carrying overly advanced technology. And if they simply destroyed the planets, those materials would eventually recombine over eons. Worse still, what if the enemy hadn’t originally been born at all—and only emerged because the Qi altered the environment?”

“So, their strategy was to pollute the galaxy—not by destruction, but by engineering an agent civilization to spread their own technology, to anchor this galaxy’s scientific trajectory. Through this, they would corrupt the path of development and fundamentally prevent their enemy from arising.”

“That proxy civilization… Was the Ji?” Sarah asked.

“That’s right,” Lumina confirmed. “After that planet was transformed into a life-bearing world, the Ji were born as the first native intelligent species of this galaxy.”

“Then, under the Qi’s subtle influence, the Ji rapidly advanced from savagery to civilization. Their societal forms evolved quickly, and within just a few hundred years, they stepped out into space.”

Listening from afar, Luo Wen curled his lips. No wonder the Ji’s history always felt strangely familiar—it was nearly identical to that of the rat folk. Turns out they were both products that had gone through intervention.

Compared to that, the Qi were at least more considerate. The Ji had risen to dominate the galaxy, while the rat folk had been reduced to mere reproductive fodder.

“The rest of the story, Your Majesty has likely read in various records. But… some of those have been altered.”

Of course they were, Sarah thought. If they hadn’t been, why would there be no trace of the Qi Civilization in any database?

Without needing to prompt her, Lumina continued.

“During the Ji’s development, members of the Qi mission team gradually awoke from hibernation. They monitored the Ji’s progress, guided them to terraform more planets, and spread seeds of development. One could say they personally created the Interstellar Technological Confederation.”

“Though many civilizations arose under their guidance, the Qi used a point-based merit system to restrict their thinking. This standardized their paths of research, ensuring heavy homogenization across all scientific efforts—thus reducing the chance of their ancient enemy ever emerging.”

Here, Lumina paused for a moment and looked directly at Sarah.

“At this point, I’m sure Your Majesty has guessed… The ancient enemy of the Qi Civilization was a biological civilization—or more precisely, a civilization focused heavily on biotech development. Even a non-specialized path would’ve been formidable at their level.”