I Am The Swarm

Chapter 30: Completion

After a deeply unfriendly exchange, the two sides engaged in a fierce battle. Initially, the fight was evenly matched, but since this was the enemy’s home turf, reinforcements kept arriving in droves.

The arrival of a Giant Mandible Soldier Ant quickly turned the tide. This specialized combat unit charging into a battlefield full of Worker Ants was like a strongman rampaging through a kindergarten—utterly unstoppable.

The Soldier Ant rampaged through the transport team, meeting no resistance and quickly leaving them in shambles.

Although the bugs produced by the Brood Nest used Black Ants as their template and looked identical to them, there was a critical difference. Unlike the scouting Worker Ants from the original ant colony, which would retreat when outnumbered, the bugs from the Brood Nest fought to the death.

As a result, the entire transport team was annihilated.

Luo Wen didn’t notice anything amiss until the second day after the incident.

The night of the brawl, Luo Wen returned to the Brood Nest with the excavation team after dark. The Black Ants in the Brood Nest were numerous enough to be noticeable but not overwhelming, numbering around a few dozen. Since they were all busily working, Luo Wen didn’t immediately notice the absence of a dozen or so ants. He simply enjoyed some nectar, checked on Big Black, and retired to his small chamber for rest.

It wasn’t until the next day, after waking up and preparing to take a headcount, that Luo Wen realized the transport team had not returned the previous night. His heart sank—something had gone wrong.

Reacting quickly, Luo Wen thought things through and pinpointed the oversight that led to this disaster. He deduced the situation with about ninety percent accuracy.

He left the Brood Nest alone to investigate. Not far from the entrance, he encountered scouting Worker Ants, likely tracking the transport team’s trail.

Luo Wen didn’t alarm them. Instead, he erased any traces they could follow and laid down new pheromones, redirecting their

With a team assembled, Luo Wen led the untrained excavation crew to work. For now, he did most of the digging, while the ants were responsible for transporting excavated soil out of the pit and reinforcing the tunnels.

Two days later, the smuggling tunnel at Ant Nest No. 2 was complete. With his forged identification pheromones, Luo Wen infiltrated the brood chamber, dug a temporary path to connect with the tunnel, and began transporting food.

The Brood Nest’s food reserves steadily increased. Luo Wen dug two additional storage chambers, confident they would eventually come into use.

Time passed smoothly, and the newly hatched larvae from Big Black’s modified eggs emerged. These larvae resembled the White Grubs Luo Wen had first encountered upon arriving in this world.

Seeing them triggered a wave of nostalgia. Those White Grubs had been immensely helpful to him, tirelessly assisting with tasks and enduring his treatment without complaint. When his teeth weren’t fully developed, they would even gnaw through tree roots for him. They were truly good bugs.

Not long after, the larvae from the second batch of modified eggs, which incorporated Burrower Ant traits, also hatched. These larvae looked similar to ordinary ant larvae, with only subtle differences.

During this time, the Brood Nest’s population steadily increased. The losses to the transport team were not only replenished but surpassed.

With a larger workforce, Luo Wen and his ants re-excavated the smuggling tunnel for Ant Nest No. 1. This time, the tunnel directly connected to the Brood Nest from underground.