I Am The Swarm-Chapter 608: Obstacles

As the fungal carpet expanded underground, it incidentally captured numerous samples of local organisms. Although these were mostly basic insects and the like, they still provided significant help for the Swarm in understanding the planet.

Luo Wen remotely analyzed their genetic samples through the fungal carpet, and soon, Swarm versions of these local insects began to appear openly on the planet’s surface.

Quickly, some Swarm versions of small local creatures also emerged, with flying insects and birds joining the ranks. These inconspicuous little creatures were the best scouts. With this coordinated aerial and ground reconnaissance, Luo Wen soon pinpointed the location of the biological armor.

It was a large ground-based structure, resembling both a fortress and a palace, covering an enormous area and appearing quite majestic. The building was painted with patterns of gold and green, and the surrounding greenery was lush, filled with various local plants.

Any intelligent being would immediately recognize the significance of this place at a glance. Despite the building’s striking appearance, there were no random individuals loitering around.

Upon closer inspection, one would notice that hidden corners of the building and plants were equipped with monitoring devices. Drones occupied the skies, providing 24/7, 360-degree surveillance without blind spots.

Even the fully automated gardening robots working on the lawns were connected to the Ji Race’s artificial intelligence, serving as additional security.

Seeing this, Luo Wen wasn’t particularly surprised. This was the standard security treatment for a Ji Race elder’s residence, and Elder Humes had a similar defense system in place.

Although there were thousands of Ji Race elders, considering their territories and status, this number wasn’t excessive—it was actually somewhat insufficient. Each elder was responsible for a vast region, so it was only natural that they would have such grandeur and security.

However, the architectural style wasn’t uniform; it depended on the personal preferences of the Ji Race elders. Cecil’s maternal race, the Potlings, loved nature, favoring golden sunlight and green vegetation, which explained the prevalence of these colors in the building.

In fact, the Ji Race generally avoided displaying customs and preferences from their maternal races. Ordinary Ji Race members might get away with it, but those in power who exhibited such traits could be criticized by others.

After all, they had effectively separated from their maternal races to form a new race. Retaining habits from their maternal races could be seen as a failure to fully sever ties.

Th𝗲 most uptodate novels are published on ƒгeewёbnovel.com.

Such leaders, when dealing with matters related to their maternal races, might not act fairly. In the eyes of those who identified solely as Ji Race, this was a serious betrayal and absolutely unacceptable.

In reality, cutting ties with one’s maternal race wasn’t easy, but most people, even if they couldn’t fully let go, wouldn’t display such traits in obvious ways. Some might even go out of their way to do the opposite.

For example, Elder Humes’ maternal race, the Scherians, preferred darker environments. Wealthy Scherians lived underground, while the poor lived on the surface—a very distinct racial trait.

But to avoid suspicion, Elder Humes not only built his residence to be tall and imposing, but he also lived on the upper floors, even going so far as to replace walls with light panels to keep the interior brightly lit.

As for Cecil, it was unclear why she so blatantly displayed her preferences. After all, Ji Race laboratories were stationed in orbit above the planet, and over 60% of the planet’s population were Ji Race members.

This had likely already caught their attention, and if someone with ulterior motives decided to make a big deal out of it, even as a Ji Race elder, Cecil would likely find herself in a troublesome situation.

Luo Wen didn’t know why Cecil was so unconventional. This issue could be minor or major, and if given the chance, Luo Wen hoped to understand her reasoning.

The castle’s defenses were incredibly tight. Not even birds could get in, let alone insects. The Ji Race had gone so far as to install small laser devices at every entrance, including doors and windows. Any insect that approached within a certain distance would be instantly targeted and eliminated.

Although these defense systems were primarily meant to keep annoying local insects from disturbing the important figures inside, they inadvertently made it much harder for the Swarm to infiltrate.

The air was a no-go, and the ground wasn’t much better. The castle’s perimeter was patrolled by cleaning robots that regularly sprayed insect repellent and pesticides to keep bugs at bay.

The Swarm versions of local insects, designed to be as realistic as possible to avoid suspicion, were identical to their local counterparts in every way except for their ability to serve as node units, providing Luo Wen with visual feedback.

As a result, they were just as susceptible to the pesticides and could even be killed by them. After several attempts, Luo Wen managed to find a few weak points and breach the outer defenses, but the cleaning robots inside the castle were equipped with miniature stun devices.

Although their output was low, it was enough to kill any local insect that slipped through. The Swarm insects Luo Wen used for infiltration were already weakened by the first line of pesticide defense, and when they encountered these cleaning robots designed to catch stragglers, they were promptly zapped.

With both aerial and ground attempts failing, Luo Wen had no choice but to fall back on an old trick. Although the Swarm now roamed the stars, the traditional skill of digging tunnels had never been abandoned.

However, this tried-and-true method met with unexpected failure. The Ji Race, with their over a million years of history, had thought of everything.

They had coated the building’s foundation with a layer of radioactive material. Since the building’s foundation included radiation shielding, this layer had no effect on the castle’s interior. However, externally, it was far more effective than any pesticide at repelling insects.

Local insects were killed by the accumulated radiation in the soil long before they could reach the building’s foundation. Over time, this created a death zone, a forbidden area for local insects.

While the Swarm wasn’t afraid of radiation and could even absorb it, the insects created using local biological templates would suffer the same fate as their natural counterparts.

If the Swarm created creatures with abilities far beyond those of local organisms, even if they looked identical, it would immediately alert the castle’s defense systems.

It wasn’t yet time to raise suspicions, but the current situation had indeed stumped Luo Wen.