I Am The Swarm-Chapter 635: Differences

Whether as the highest-authority artificial intelligence or as a sentient life form, Lumina’s unique existence makes it omnipotent within the network. As technology advances to a certain level, every aspect of life—clothing, food, shelter, and transportation—becomes deeply intertwined with the network. The same goes for various facilities; machines need the network to connect them.

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Imagine a neighborhood filled with surveillance cameras, where a diligent monitor watches every corner day and night without rest.

In such an environment, if the people living there were to organize and plot against this monitor, the difficulty would be unimaginable.

These people would likely have to abandon all advanced communication methods and resort to the most primitive ways of exchanging information. They would also need to develop one or even several sets of entirely new codes, as this monitor possesses unimaginable computational and retrieval speeds, along with millions of years of accumulated data.

Across nearly two hundred races, how much knowledge and wisdom have been accumulated over their long histories? If they merely borrowed and pieced together existing systems, no matter how complex, it would likely be impossible to escape the monitor’s notice.

But to surpass the wisdom of these hundred races and create an entirely new system—just thinking about the difficulty makes one want to give up. However, it seems that the Confederation is home to many talented individuals. They must have developed such systems to ensure communication without Lumina’s detection.

For this organization to have survived until now, its structure and security measures must be extremely complex. Without a guide, it would be nearly impossible to make contact with them.

So far, Luo Wen has infiltrated quite a few of his “own people” within the Confederation, but he has yet to find a way into this organization.

Strictly speaking, Luo Wen once had a lead to contact these individuals. During the conversation between Elder Cecil and Elder Humes, Elder Cecil had hinted at her attitude toward the Swarm.

Others might not have noticed anything unusual, but Luo Wen, as the person involved, immediately picked up on it. Elder Cecil was either a member of this organization or had contact with some of its members.

At the time, Luo Wen wasn’t aware of Lumina’s existence. He simply thought that if he could uncover the secrets and intentions of this organization, he could gather more information and adjust his strategies accordingly.

However, Elder Humes and Elder Cecil had just established a cooperative relationship, and they were still in the early stages of getting to know each other. Making sudden demands might not only fail to achieve the desired outcome but could also cause unnecessary trouble.

Therefore, Elder Humes didn’t bring up the matter with Elder Cecil at the time. Luo Wen had planned to slowly build this network, but as they say, plans can’t keep up with changes. After the call ended, Elder Cecil was likely “delivered” to Lumina.

With Elder Cecil’s exposure, Lumina would undoubtedly exploit it. It probably extracted everything it needed—and didn’t need—through repeated resets in the virtual world.

Judging from Elder Humes’ situation, perhaps because Elder Cecil didn’t reveal much, Elder Humes wasn’t implicated. But the true masterminds behind the scenes? Their fate is unknown.

If handled improperly, Lumina’s unique abilities could have wiped them all out. Thinking about it, it’s unclear whether this organization still exists. If it does, it must have suffered heavy losses, with the survivors likely lying low, licking their wounds in the shadows.

In this case, Luo Wen’s chances of contacting them have become even slimmer.

While he was still pondering this issue, another development forced him to make a decision. This was the reason Sarah had seen Luo Wen looking troubled earlier.

“Overlord, are you worried that once we repel this attack from the Confederation, it will attract even more attention?” Sarah asked after watching the memories of the intelligent entity and listening to Luo Wen’s explanation.

Hearing Sarah’s words, a flash of insight struck Luo Wen. Yes, he had figured out why Lumina hadn’t destroyed the Swarm in its early stages.

Compared to the ubiquitous surveillance cameras, the foreign races are far more numerous. And unlike the isolated Lumina, each member of the foreign races has independent thoughts and consciousness.

The increase in the number of independent individuals raises the probability of unexpected events. For some reason—perhaps due to constraints or its own issues—Lumina cannot afford to expose itself at this stage. In other words, it cannot allow any accidents to occur.

Although Lumina could use nanobots to infiltrate and neutralize these accidents, sending those involved to play in the virtual world, this method cannot be used on a large scale.

First, Lumina’s method of converting its “own people” isn’t as convenient as Luo Wen’s. While the intelligent entities are part of Luo Wen, they each possess independent consciousness, the ability to think, and creativity, as long as Luo Wen permits it.

Therefore, as the number of intelligent entities grows and their functions cover all aspects, Luo Wen only needs to set the general direction, and the intelligent entities can handle most tasks. This often allows Luo Wen to take a hands-off approach.

But Lumina is different. In Lumina’s camp, the only one with true intelligence and the ability to think is Lumina itself. No matter how many of its “own people” it develops, they are all controlled by its subroutines. This means Lumina has to handle everything personally.

Sentient beings are different from mechanical units. Mechanical units are governed by their code, making them highly templated and repetitive. Sentient beings, on the other hand, possess complex emotions, giving each one a unique personality. Additionally, their social nature creates intricate interpersonal relationships, which, depending on their personalities, can lead to countless complications. All of this increases the computational load.

Therefore, simulating the daily behavior of a mechanical unit versus a sentient being is like comparing the difficulty of climbing a few floors to scaling a skyscraper.

When Lumina simulates a person, it creates a tailored big data system for that individual in the virtual world, then matches it to the appropriate environment.

The computational resources required for this system might be enough for Lumina to control a small fleet of warships. If the number of simulated sentient beings is small, it’s manageable. But once the numbers climb, even with its unparalleled hardware, Lumina would struggle to handle the load.