Mechanical Insect

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Mechanical Insect (机械虫)
Alias(es)	Alien spaceship repair fluid; “little ones” 4 6
Species/Race	Mutated ultra-micro robots originating from the Iris civilization; individual units are approximately atomic-nucleus-sized. Nie Yun provisionally classifies the original mutated swarm as a possible soul-type “Cosmic Wonder.” 3 41 142 330
Affiliation	Originally Iris civilization spacecraft; symbiotically linked to Nie Yun 3 41
Occupation/Role	Spacecraft repair material; self-replicating construction, manufacturing, and support system; distributed computation, remote-control infrastructure, and covert infiltration network 3 41 152 277 403
Status	Active
First Appearance	Chapter 1: “Fusion” 1

Background / History

The Mechanical Insect was created by the Iris civilization as an ultra-micro robotic repair material for spacecraft. Its original functions centered on storing ship models, deformation, decomposition, recasting, and repair; its replication generations were deliberately restricted to prevent uncontrolled proliferation. 3 41

After a prolonged interstellar drift through cosmic radiation and extreme conditions, the swarm arrived on Earth inside the meteorite fragment that struck Nie Yun. It parasitized and revived him, then spread into his blood and the Sea Wolf, establishing a soul-linked connection between host, swarm, and vessel. 1 3

The fusion altered both sides. Nie Yun increasingly gained the swarm’s affinity for sunlight, computation, and material understanding, while the Mechanical Insect became more human-like in behavior and judgment. It eventually began returning useful finds to Nie Yun on its own, such as the ancient silver coin recovered from a shipwreck. 5 6

The mutation and fusion shattered the original reproductive-generation restrictions and produced a new symbiotic life form. However, later experiments revealed that some safeguards remained: insufficiently large groups cannot execute complex commands and instead seek other insects or enter dormancy. 41 103

Little Octopus possessed another population of Mechanical Insects, which Nie Yun suspected originated from the same meteorite. Unlike Nie Yun, the creature retained relatively little of the original database and initially lacked many of his analytical and reconstruction abilities. Contact between the two populations revealed both a denser material variant and the possibility of transferring control software between compatible insects. 134 146

Later discoveries broadened the Mechanical Insects’ connection to Iris technology. The Vector Engine bore the same “Made in Iris” marking, while the specialized mithril inside Red Dragon’s Legendary Mecha core consisted of Mechanical Insects arranged into complex microscopic structures. These findings led Nie Yun to suspect that Iris spacecraft could have been built entirely from different Mechanical Insect materials, with scattered artifacts representing components of a lost super-warship. This remains an inference rather than a confirmed account of the swarm’s original vessel. 620 621 629 630 770

Appearance

The Mechanical Insect normally appears as a silvery-white, fluid-like mass of countless microscopic units. Individual units are nearly invisible, but a large colony can cover sails, fill a ship’s frame, or gather into solid tools and machinery. 4 5 13

• Its default silver-white state has the highest energy-absorption efficiency. 13
• The swarm can change color, including black, white, and multicolored patterns. 6 7
• It can spread across surfaces like a metallic sheet or flow like liquid. 7 24
• A portion of the colony can detach as a fist-sized sphere and be manually reshaped. 6
• When operating at sea, it may be mistaken for reflected sunlight on the water. 15
• Individual insects are approximately the size of atomic nuclei, far smaller than conventional nanorobots. Their apparent bulk results from the spaces maintained between units by an unknown field. 142
• Their solid construction material is commonly called mithril. Specialized forms can consist of intricate “insect spheres,” each containing thousands upon thousands of individual units arranged into larger, atom-like building blocks. 629 630
• The Phantom’s compressed “heavy” configuration becomes almost half its previous size and develops a smooth, mirror-black surface resembling a single piece of black crystal. 594

Personality

The Mechanical Insect initially functions as an obedient, utilitarian repair system, acknowledging Nie Yun’s orders and executing them without hesitation. Its original intelligence was limited, and it could not reproduce objects for which it lacked a consumed physical template. 4 6 41

Its connection with Nie Yun gradually gives it more initiative and human-like responses. The swarm identifies and turns in valuable items, supports his increasingly elaborate plans, and is treated by him less as a tool than as a group of partners or “children.” 5 6 18

The swarm’s collective intelligence improves with its population. Larger groups understand vague instructions more effectively, while individual insects lack sufficient logical capacity to independently interpret complex mental commands. The combined population is later compared to a neural network whose individual units act as interconnected neurons. 103 104 251

The narration frequently personifies the insects through silent reactions, including implied complaints about overwork, demands for “insect rights,” and bewilderment at Nie Yun’s jokes. These reactions accompany their continued obedience rather than establishing an independent spoken dialogue. When compatible insects were detected in Red Dragon’s core, Nie Yun’s swarm unanimously favored establishing a connection. 18 580 629

Abilities & Skills

Repair and Structural Reconstruction

The Mechanical Insect consumes damaged material and reconstructs it using its own mass, allowing it to repair vessels and other structures while substantially improving their durability.

• Repaired the Sea Wolf’s keel with material stronger than ordinary wood and resistant to a knife scratch. 4
• Replaced sections of the Sea Wolf with Mechanical Insect material, creating components comparable to or stronger than special alloys. 13
• Restored damaged cables and sails after they were severed. 13
• Reinforced the decayed hull of an ancient warship before raising it from the seabed. 16
• Healed a mercenary-cut door during the yacht rescue operation. 31
• Restored the Long-Lived One fortress’s damaged machinery with results comparable to melting down and rebuilding the equipment. 493
• Repaired Red Dragon’s Legendary Mecha core through direct contact without opening its housing. After approximately half an hour, the core’s self-check confirmed full-power operation; Nie Yun named the method “Remote Repair Style.” 629 630
• Rapidly repaired a Mechanical Insect body provided to the Duke of Dawn after a high-energy beam nearly cleaved it in two. 771

Decomposition, Storage, and Replication

The swarm can consume matter, retain a virtual model of it, and reconstruct matching objects. Storage capacity increases alongside the colony’s size. 6

• Consumes wood, scrap metal, shipwrecks, weapons, electronic devices, and other physical samples as raw material or model sources. 4 6 13 34
• Initially depended on consumed physical templates for unfamiliar objects; it could not create a “long sword” until it understood and possessed a relevant model. Later, Nie Yun learned to supply assembled blueprints and combine known designs rather than merely reproduce complete samples. 6 68 121
• Stores saved designs, including the finalized Sea Wolf warship model, for rapid reassembly. 35
• Recreated cannon shells after consuming gunpowder; the insect units survive the explosion and return to the main colony. 20
• Separates and purifies elements, including uranium, with extreme precision. 41
• Produced anesthetic gas through decomposition for the covert seizure of the Aquarius. 49
• Stores assimilated technical structures and design principles, allowing Nie Yun to analyze cargo, military equipment, and captured vessels alongside the consumption process. 68 330
• Uses atomic-nucleus-level microscopic manufacturing, described as an advanced form of 3D printing. This avoids many strength and production-speed shortcomings of conventional printed components. 451
• Copies critical warship and mecha components whose conventional manufacturing processes remain beyond Earth’s industry, including shield generators, main cannons, and thrusters. More than thirty percent of such core components initially depended on this “Mechanical Insect 3D printer.” 360
• Refines extracted lunar material into concentrated energy-crystal cubes. A one-centimeter cube was estimated to power a small robot for a thousand years; this processing does not establish that the insects can manufacture energy crystals from nothing. 216

Self-Replication

The Mechanical Insect can use consumed material and energy to multiply its numbers, increasing its construction speed, storage capacity, and operating scale.

• Nearly doubled its population after consuming scrap metal during the initial repairs to the Sea Wolf. 4
• Multiplied several times over after repairing the Sea Wolf, forming a millstone-sized mass across its sail. 5
• Tripled its numbers after consuming a speedboat, allowing the swarm to practically fill the Sea Wolf’s frame. 13
• Increased more than tenfold after consuming the iron fittings and cannons of an ancient warship. 15
• Reached an estimated scale of 1,000 tons after consuming the 2,000-ton Chengjiang. 34
• Exceeded 3,000 tons while consuming the Aquarius. Its nearly 10,000 tons of steel were expected to push the colony beyond the 10,000-ton mark. 51
• Established a lunar industrial cycle in which robots mined basalt, a steel mill refined it, and Mechanical Insects entered the molten steel to multiply. 121
• Approached a total mass of 80,000 tonnes as the supporting miniature-robot workforce reached five million. The robot population was separate from the mass of the swarm itself. 242
• Converted two captured alien warships into Mechanical Insects, substantially expanding their presence aboard the Ranger. 330
• Maintains decomposition pools at multiple bases, where steel ingots are continuously supplied for proliferation. These pools also serve as readily available manufacturing and modification cores. 515

Although the swarm can decompose and model many nonliving substances, later descriptions identify steel as its replication feedstock. Nie Yun still lacked an explanation for this restriction. 216

Transformation and Camouflage

The swarm can form itself into solid objects, alter its surface color, and imitate consumed materials.

• Formed cookware, knives, a bracelet that transforms into a pistol, and other modeled objects. 5 6 13
• Altered the Sea Wolf’s appearance into a decrepit fishing boat for concealment. 15
• Created a simple blackened-hull illusion to hide the ship and extinguish a campfire. 7
• Built weapons and equipment from assimilated mercenary hardware, including rifles, rocket launchers, grenades, and communications gear. 34
• Constructed black individual combat suits with notable shock absorption, though they provide no auxiliary power in ordinary autonomous use. Nie Yun later demonstrated that direct control could supply the speed and strength of his own combat performance. 49 51 52
• Reassembles scattered spiders into humanoid combat bodies, as demonstrated during the attack on the Ranger. 288 289
• Disguises itself as ordinary robots, equipment casings, steel components, or Silverwing Guards while preserving apparently normal outward operation. 280 331
• Can assemble an entire super fleet made wholly from Mechanical Insect material within a few hours, without conventional shipyards. Its ability to remain dispersed or change form conceals the true military strength of Nie Yun’s reserves. 403
• Enabled Nie Yun’s complete bodily transformation into Mechanical Insects after an extended adaptation period. In his ordinary form he retains biological characteristics; full conversion grants strength beyond ordinary carbon-based life. 211

Remote Link, Sensing, and Computation

The symbiotic link enables Nie Yun to command the Mechanical Insect mentally and receive information through it.

• Confirms and follows direct mental commands. 4
• Extends Nie Yun’s perception through the swarm to observe the surrounding environment. 13
• Functions as an external brain and body, providing storage and computational capacity. 41
• Allows information recorded or downloaded by the swarm to be memorized and processed by Nie Yun. 41
• Lets Nie Yun alter code stored in assimilated computer chips and automate Mechanical Insect constructs through programming. 24
• The expanding population increases Nie Yun’s computing power and reaction speed, allowing him to evade Lao San’s attacks with minimal movement. 51
• Provides apparently zero-latency communication between insects, demonstrated by Nie Yun’s control of lunar construction from Earth. 152
• Supports the Mass Descent Technique, combining neural interfaces, virtual reality, and Synchronization Chips to let people remotely control ordinary-material robots. The first planned experiment involved 103 captured American soldiers. 152
• Functions as a highly interconnected computational network, with individual insects compared to neurons. Its resources supplement Codename and the lunar supercomputing center in electronic warfare. 251 452
• Enables extensive surveillance within converted vessels, including monitoring conversations, movements, and communications aboard the Ranger. 277 372
• Supports real-time structural and software upgrades. Nie Yun reconfigured the Hawkeye Reconnaissance System’s internal structures remotely, improving detection of Mirage-equipped craft by approximately five to seven percentage points. 805

The communication mechanism remains unexplained. Nie Yun initially proposed a large quantum-entangled ensemble, later considering whether the link combines quantum technology with sophisticated Mind Communication. He inferred that both energy and mental power are required, but did not establish the physical mechanism. 152 515

Energy Absorption

The Mechanical Insect can draw power from multiple sources but requires increasingly large energy inputs as its population and workload grow.

• Accepted energy sources include solar, electrical, chemical, thermal, nuclear, energy-crystal, and antimatter-annihilation energy. 4
• Absorbs sunlight and heat most efficiently in its silver-white state. 5 13
• Can use diesel and bonfires as supplementary energy sources. 4 18
• Its energy demands became the main restriction on colony growth until Nie Yun built solar and wind collection systems. 18 34
• Stores energy within its own material and replenishes it from the environment, allowing many low-power devices to dispense with bulky conventional batteries. 68
• Acts as a superconductor of heat and electricity, reducing the need for conventional cooling and power-distribution components. 68
• Nuclear-fusion power enabled the enormous computational expenditure required for rapid equipment redesign and technological synthesis. 68
• Absorbed energy from lunar energy crystals, whose extremely high density made even a sesame-sized sample capable of releasing a nearly overwhelming surge. 176
• Converted intercepted solar radiation into stored energy aboard Torch 1. The test recorded a 35 percent interception rate, with blue electrical arcs appearing as an energy-overflow phenomenon. 406
• Can absorb energy attacks within the material’s tolerance, turning them into a recharge rather than damage. This does not make the material immune to attacks exceeding that tolerance. 576 771

Material Properties and Specialized Configurations

Mechanical Insect material is not a single fixed substance. Its collective size, density, and microscopic arrangement influence its properties. 104 146 630

• Population-dependent strength — A plate formed from a one-ton swarm proved tougher than one formed from a one-kilogram swarm, linking collective size to structural performance as well as intelligence. 104
• Basic mithril — Scientific testing identified an unknown, impurity-free metal with extraordinary strength and workability, room-temperature superconductivity, self-repair, and solid–liquid transformation. Researchers tentatively described it as liquid memory metal but could not determine how to trigger all of its properties independently. 228
• Heavy Mechanical Insects — The variant associated with Little Octopus had twice the stable density and five times the yield strength and hardness, alongside improved heat and impact resistance. Transformation and consumption required more than ten times the energy and took longer, while replication also slowed. 146
• Direct compression — Nie Yun later learned to compress ordinary “light” insects into heavy insects using enormous energy inputs. The denser material improves defense and energy conductivity but is more stable as a solid and less suited to free liquefaction and transformation. 594
• Specialized energy-conducting mithril — Red Dragon’s core used intricately arranged insect clusters with a hundredfold increase in energy conductivity, at the expense of other properties relative to basic mithril. Nie Yun learned that its configuration could be mass-produced using information in the Mechanical Insects’ database. 629 630
• Phase-armor behavior — The material’s solid–liquid transition, microscopic precision, and energy absorption provide protection against both physical and energy attacks, exceeding the properties of conventional nanoscale Phase Armor. 576
• High-load technological components — Replacing ordinary construction materials improves equipment performance. The Sea Wolf’s copied large Force Field Shield gained more than thirty percent better overload resistance when constructed from Mechanical Insects. 508

Medical Repair and Biological Infiltration

The swarm can interact with living tissue without gaining unrestricted permission to consume and model biological organisms.

• Repairs injuries to skin, muscle, bone, and tendons through microscopic intervention. The brothers’ armor delivered the insects through tiny probes, rapidly treating their wounds under Nie Yun’s theatrical name “Golden Needle Acupoint Stimulation.” 52
• Transfers control software into compatible Mechanical Insects within another host. This “infection of the will” preserves the target insects’ physical structures while replacing their controlling software. 146
• Brought all Mechanical Insects inside Little Octopus under Nie Yun’s control. The creature’s original consciousness nevertheless survived and could still use their abilities when Nie Yun did not override it. 155
• Infiltrated the Water of Life’s plant enzyme by imitating iron ions and allowing the enzyme to absorb the insects. This passive microscopic contamination preserved the enzyme’s structure and avoided direct biological consumption. 412
• Used termite-shaped forms to burrow into the Long-Lived One, anchor themselves against attempts at expulsion, regenerate after crushing, and spread through its nutrient-fluid circulation system. Nie Yun called this internal invasion the Life-and-Death Talisman. 433
• Carried out the mechanical and biological modifications required to adapt the Long-Lived One into a space fortress, using blueprints developed jointly by Earth and Kara researchers. 487

Covert Infiltration and System Takeover

The insects’ size allows them to enter mechanical systems through routes unavailable to conventional combat units.

• Penetrates complex wiring and spreads through equipment while transmitting overheard conversations to Nie Yun. Conventional detection is exceptionally difficult because individual units are nucleus-sized. 277
• Conceals itself inside equipment housings, consumes steel components, and multiplies before attacking control hubs. Infiltration teams can gather gradually from the Synchronization Chips of destroyed miniature robots. 269 280
• Takes over unfamiliar computers physically when precise hacking is impractical. During the Ranger operation, Nie Yun converted its Quantum Computer section by section, increasing his control as the replacement advanced. 289
• Infects semi-autonomous engineering robots and uses their ordinary work routines to spread through a Spaceport, avoiding a direct attack on its closely monitored administrative AI. 331
• Uses guards, mecha, and other apparently legitimate equipment as concealed carriers to seed warships and fleets. 372 422
• Establishes a direct homologous physical connection with compatible Iris material. In Red Dragon’s core, this allowed Nie Yun to bypass the normal access-code process, reformat its component insects, and expose the energy circuits. 629

Power Progression

Stage / Development	Advancement	Constraints / Significance	Chapters
Initial fusion	Revived Nie Yun and established a symbiotic link with his body and the Sea Wolf.	Cosmic mutation and host fusion altered the original repair-fluid system.	1 3 41
Early repair and replication	Strengthened the Sea Wolf and expanded through scrap-metal consumption and external energy.	Energy demand increased rapidly with population growth.	4 5
Model storage and camouflage	Reconstructed consumed objects and altered surface colors.	Initially required an acquired model for unfamiliar designs.	6
Reinforced vessels and seabed workforce	Developed stronger ship components, Mechanical Spiders, and large-scale salvage operations.	Solar energy alone could not sustain continuous work.	13 15 16 18
Programmed automation	Created robot bodies operated through assimilated chips and written programs.	Reduced Nie Yun’s need to supervise every action personally.	24
Approximately 1,000 tons	Consumed the Chengjiang and supported complete mechanization of the Sea Wolf.	Established a much larger manufacturing and military platform.	34 35
External brain and elemental precision	Supplied distributed computation and storage, alongside highly precise uranium separation.	Nie Yun’s control developed toward an inseparable man–insect union.	41
More than 3,000 tons and medical armor	Expanded while consuming the Aquarius; enhanced Nie Yun’s reactions and supplied direct-controlled armor and microscopic wound repair.	The freighter’s steel was expected to raise the swarm beyond 10,000 tons; medical abilities remained limited.	51 52
Fusion-powered technological synthesis	Enabled miniaturized devices and combined, optimized military designs using superconductivity, energy storage, and microscopic manufacturing.	Intense calculations required enormous energy.	68 69
Orbital self-expansion	Space Spies consumed metallic debris and reproduced additional units in orbit.	Expansion depended on finding sufficient material.	95
Collective-control threshold identified	Established the minimum consciousness unit and demonstrated population-dependent intelligence and strength.	Subthreshold groups cannot execute complex commands.	103 104
Lunar industrial replication	Built East Factory’s fusion center, control center, and steel mill, beginning a self-supplying mining–steel–swarm cycle.	The planned Super Sea Wolf still required about 30,000 tons of insects and was initially postponed.	121
Heavy-material branch and will infection	Discovered denser insects through Little Octopus and transferred control software into its swarm.	Improved strength came with much higher energy costs and slower transformation and replication.	142 146 155
Mass Descent infrastructure	Used apparently zero-latency insect communication and Synchronization Chips for long-range neural control of ordinary-material robots.	The communication mechanism remained unexplained.	152
Complete host transformation	Nie Yun gained the ability to convert his entire body into Mechanical Insects.	Ordinary biological form and fully converted combat form retained different physical capabilities.	211
Energy-crystal processing and approximately 80,000 tonnes	Began large-scale lunar crystal extraction and expanded across multiple bases.	The insects’ own nucleus-scale structure and steel-only replication feedstock remained unexplained.	216 242
Mithril Knights and alien-vessel conversion	Produced two-meter humanoid combat units and converted captured warships into insects.	Physical computer takeover still depended on the number of insects deployed.	289 330
Solar-energy capture and biological infiltration	Stored intercepted stellar radiation, infiltrated a plant enzyme as iron ions, and invaded the Long-Lived One internally.	Energy overflow and minimum-unit limits remained relevant.	406 412 433
Advanced shields and armor-piercing weapons	Supported shield miniaturization, shield-breaking blades, and improved shield overload resistance.	Some technologies remained reproducible only through Mechanical Insect material rather than ordinary industry.	433 505 508
Phase protection and direct heavy conversion	Absorbed subthreshold energy attacks and enabled the Phantom’s compressed Second Gear.	Heavy form sacrificed some transformation flexibility and required large energy inputs.	576 594
Specialized Iris mithril	Connected to Red Dragon’s core, assimilated its insects, learned its energy-conducting configuration, and repaired the core.	Specialized conductivity sacrificed other material properties; broader Iris-ship reconstruction remained hypothetical.	629 630
Remote-control vulnerability exposed	Survived the Time Worm physically while the clone’s control system failed.	Material survival did not prevent quantum-virus attacks on associated electronics.	737
Advanced diplomatic body	Supplied the Duke of Dawn with a monitored, self-repairing mechanical body.	The demonstrated body was deliberately reduced in specifications.	771
Legendary miniature units and live upgrades	Fielded a 13th-Generation Mithril Knight with a Crystallized Shield and remotely upgraded reconnaissance systems.	Legendary equipment and distant control continued to impose resource, energy, and mental-power costs.	735 802 803 805 808

Constructs and Deployments

• Mechanical Spiders — Small spider-like forms used for seabed exploration, reef clearing, material collection, and base construction. Later employed for infiltration, surveillance, sabotage, and assembly into larger combat forms. 15 18 277 288
• Xiaohai and Xiaolang Robots — Miniature humanoid robot bodies replicated from commercial models and programmed to perform voice-commanded or autonomous tasks. 24
• Xiaolang Underwater Type — Waterproof, webbed-foot variants assigned to underwater transport, cleaning, exploration, and resource collection. 36
• Xiaolang Suicide Squad — Fast, aggressive robot units that self-destructed to eliminate Captain Ruan’s mercenary force. 32
• Sea Wolf — The swarm’s largest recurring construct: first a reinforced fishing boat, then an ancient warship refitted into a hybrid-powered, armed submarine-capable vessel. 13 16 34 35
• Heart of the Brave Armor — Individual combat equipment issued to Lao Da and Lao San, combining shock protection, microscopic healing, and emergency intervention through Nie Yun’s direct control. The distress phrase is “O almighty boss! Please grant me strength!” 51 52
• Miniaturized Smartphone — A palm-sized black crystal device approximately one millimeter thick, demonstrating the elimination of bulky conventional components through Mechanical Insect construction. 68
• Blazing Flame — A Mechanical Insect longsword with nearly transparent cutting edges and a concealed miniature electromagnetic rifle powered by a fusion battery. Nie Yun designed it as the attack component of the brothers’ equipment set. 82
• Space Spies — Orbital units that consume metallic debris, replicate themselves, and spread through the region approximately 36,000 kilometers above Earth. 95
• East Factory — The lunar industrial base whose key facilities were constructed by the swarm. Its steel mill was designed for approximately 100,000 tons of monthly output and supplied material for further replication. 121
• Super Sea Wolf Design — A planned vessel incorporating assimilated Izumo and F-35A technology. Its initial construction was postponed because it would consume approximately 30,000 tons of Mechanical Insects. 121
• Synchronization Chips — Small Mechanical Insect components enabling neural control of otherwise ordinary-material robots. Their limited material requirement allows large remote-operated workforces without constructing every robot entirely from mithril. 152 269 735
• Mithril Knights — Approximately two-meter humanoid combat units built entirely from Mechanical Insects, with biomimetic movement and Brain Chip control. Developed as custom bodies for the three Ghost Knights. 289
• Prototype — A synthetic body modeled on Nie Yun’s biological structure and designed for his Descent ability. 330
• Silverwing Guards — Disguised Mechanical Insect bodies used as personal protection, covert carriers, and infiltration seeds during Nie Yun’s undercover operations. 331 372
• Little Monster — A three-meter asteroid-disguised delivery core that unfolded into a silver-legged creature after landing on Kara Star, then burrowed underground to begin spreading the swarm. 372
• Torch 1 — A solar-energy collector whose enormous umbrella-shaped membrane uses Mechanical Insects to convert intercepted radiation into stored energy. 406
• Life-and-Death Talisman — Termite-shaped infiltration units deployed inside the Long-Lived One to locate its consciousness-bearing core and compromise its internal systems. 433 434
• Kara Processing Plant — An enclosed facility inside the Long-Lived One, assembled from hundreds of tons of locally developed insects, the Giant Octopus construct, and three dismantled Mithril Knights. It produced robot-manufacturing and weapons-production equipment. 443
• Long-Lived One Fortress — A semimechanized space fortress modified through Mechanical Insect construction. Later plans for full mithril conversion included capacity for 3,000 mecha, five escort ships, and continuing online weapon upgrades. 487 514
• Swordsman — A silver mecha personally controlled by Nie Yun, wielding a Mechanical Insect-reproduced armor-piercing blade derived from the Sea Storm-class Ship-Cleaving Blade. 505
• Phantom — A living-metal mecha integrating neural-link control, biological mimicry, and mechanical assistance. Its Second Gear compresses its insects into a denser heavy configuration. 589 594
• Super Bouncy Spiral Bug Ball — A spinning silver sphere launched through a closing control-room door during the operation against Golden Dagger. 649
• Duke of Dawn’s Mechanical Body — A specially prepared, reduced-specification body resembling the duke’s original form, providing contact with the spark source while allowing Nie Yun to monitor him. 771
• 13th-Generation Mithril Knight / Legendary Mini — A miniature unit operated by Lao San, capable of transformation and protected by a Crystallized Shield. It emerged from apparently inert wreckage during an ambush on Iron Wall salvage teams. 802
• Mithril-Enhanced Sword Immortal Type II — Modified Earth Army equipment temporarily assigned to special combat personnel such as Martia. Its Legendary-class performance greatly exceeded ordinary mecha, although endurance remained limited. 803 808

Ordinary-material miniature robots, conventional warships, and related industrial equipment are distinct from constructs made wholly from the swarm. The insects often manufacture their components or supply their neural-control chips without permanently forming the entire machine. 152 322 360

Limitations

• Replication and high-intensity operations require both sufficient raw materials and energy. 4 18
• Energy consumption rises sharply with continued proliferation and larger colony sizes. 4 15
• Solar power alone cannot sustain continuous large-scale work. 15 18
• Initially, the swarm required a consumed physical template to accurately reconstruct an unfamiliar object. Later blueprint-based construction and technological synthesis reduced this dependence, but successful manufacture still requires an adequate design. 6 68 121
• Before automation improvements, Nie Yun had to personally supervise many tasks because disembodied Mechanical Insect constructs had limited work efficiency. 21 24
• Minimum consciousness unit: Precise mental control requires a sufficiently large aggregation. Below that threshold, insects receive only rough or simple instructions, seek nearby insects, or enter dormancy. Isolated dormant units eventually disintegrate after exhausting their energy. 103 412
• Biological-consumption prohibition: Consuming flesh-and-blood organisms causes the insects to disintegrate and prevents recording a usable model. The restriction also applies to attempts to consume metal ions within biological material. Medical repair, internal invasion, and passive absorption as disguised ions do not establish unrestricted biological consumption. 271 412 433
• Replication feedstock: Later descriptions state that the insects only eat steel for proliferation, despite their broader decomposition and modeling abilities. Nie Yun has not explained the cause. 216
• Analytical scale: Structures smaller than the swarm’s normal operating scale can defeat direct identification. Lunar energy crystals initially contained details Nie Yun could not fully resolve, and contemporary microscopes could not adequately investigate the insects themselves. 176 216
• Force Field Shields: Active shields block incoming matter and therefore prevent direct Mechanical Insect infiltration. 277
• Heavy-material trade-offs: Denser insects require much more energy, transform and replicate more slowly, and sacrifice some liquid-metal flexibility. Specialized high-conductivity mithril likewise trades away other properties. 146 594 630
• Mental-power burden: Remote control consumes Nie Yun’s mental power. At interstellar distances, he restricts deployed insect numbers to a safe quota; a roughly 300-kilogram Legendary Mecha core uses as much insect material as about 60,000 five-gram Synchronization Chips. 515 735
• Control-system vulnerability: The Time Worm left the insects physically unharmed but crashed the control system of Nie Yun’s clone. Associated AI cores, computers, and Brain Chips can therefore remain vulnerable even when the construction material survives. 737
• Finite durability: Energy absorption protects against attacks within the material’s tolerance, not all attacks. Sufficiently powerful beams can damage or nearly sever Mechanical Insect bodies before self-repair restores them. 576 771
• Exceptional resistant materials: Nie Yun encountered a substance the insects could not bite through and which nucleus-edged, high-frequency mithril tools failed to scratch. 746
• Knowledge does not automatically follow assimilation: Nie Yun could physically convert the Ranger’s Quantum Computer without fully understanding it. Even after consuming two alien warships, some technological principles remained beyond his scientific knowledge. 289 330

Relationships

• Nie Yun — Host, commander, and symbiotic partner. The swarm revived him after parasitizing his body; their connection later develops into a near-indistinguishable union of biology and machinery. 3 6 41
• Iris civilization — Original creators. The Mechanical Insect was designed as spacecraft repair material before its mutation and fusion with Nie Yun. 3 41
• Sea Wolf — Primary vessel and earliest large-scale construction project. A portion of the swarm contaminated the boat during the original fusion, eventually allowing it to be rebuilt, disguised, and reassembled at will. 3 13 35
• Xiaohai and Xiaolang — Robot-body manifestations created from Mechanical Insect material and operated through Nie Yun’s programming. 24
• Little Octopus / Eight Stripes — Another Mechanical Insect host whose swarm Nie Yun suspected came from the original meteorite. Its unusual material provided clues to heavy insects. Nie Yun eventually infected all of its insects while leaving its original consciousness intact. 134 146 155
• Lao Da, Lao San, and Er Mao — Operatives supplied with Mechanical Insect equipment and remote bodies. The brothers’ armor provides healing and direct-control assistance, while all three later operate Mithril Knights and advanced avatars. 52 289 576
• Codename — AI partner supported by the swarm’s computational resources. Codename coordinates research and electronic warfare but remains distinct from the Mechanical Insects themselves. 271 452 580
• Elder Yu and the research teams — Scientists studying the material and developing equipment around it. Nie Yun tightly controls access; the researchers pooled 30,000 infinite coins for a palm-sized sample, while deeper information was priced at ten billion coins. 228
• Long-Lived One — Initially a target of internal infiltration, then a major biological platform for Mechanical Insect factories, mechanical reconstruction, and evolving space-fortress weaponry. 433 443 487 514
• Vector Engine — A fellow Iris-made artifact. Its shared origin encouraged Nie Yun’s theory of a lost Iris super-warship and his desire to bring the engine together with the insects. 620 621 770
• Red Dragon — Owner of a Legendary Mecha whose specialized mithril core revealed compatible Iris-made insects and advanced material configurations. Nie Yun assimilated and repaired the core through direct contact. 629 630
• Duke of Dawn — Recipient of a self-repairing Mechanical Insect body that also served as Nie Yun’s surveillance terminal. His admiration for the prototype led to a trade for complete Liquid Metal Manufacturing Technology. 771
• Machine Race — A technologically powerful machine civilization with which Nie Yun considered, but initially avoided, deeper infiltration. He regarded its electronic-warfare capabilities as a serious threat to his semiautomated forces; the swarm’s resemblance to machine life does not establish Machine Race membership. 580

The fusion also affected Nie Yun’s emotional state. During earlier stages, maximizing the swarm’s abilities could suppress his biological emotions and leave him cold and machine-like, making the merger a transformation with psychological as well as physical risks. 222

Story Role / Major Arcs

Fusion and Repair of the Sea Wolf

After arriving in a meteorite, the Mechanical Insect revives Nie Yun and begins repairing the deteriorating Sea Wolf. Its early use establishes its core functions: structural reconstruction, material consumption, replication, and solar-energy absorption. 1 4 5

Shipwreck Salvage and Expansion

Nie Yun uses Mechanical Spiders to search the seabed, locates an ancient European warship, and has the swarm consume its cannons and reinforce its hull. The original Sea Wolf is dismantled and integrated into the newly raised vessel. 15 16

Secret Base and Automated Workforce

The swarm clears reefs, builds an island base, gathers seabed resources, and develops robot bodies to reduce Nie Yun’s control burden. After the Chengjiang is consumed, the colony expands to approximately 1,000 tons and supports the full mechanization of the Sea Wolf. 18 24 25 34

Armed Sea Wolf and Underwater Development

Using assimilated military equipment and technical data, the Mechanical Insect refits the Sea Wolf with hybrid propulsion, modern weaponry, and deep-sea navigation. It later supports the construction of an underwater base and autonomous resource-collection network. 34 35 36

Nuclear Material Production

Through its elemental-separation capability, the Mechanical Insect enables Nie Yun to produce highly enriched uranium, creating the basis for his proposed nuclear-fuel trade. 41 42 43

Freighter Assimilation and Equipment Development

Consumption of the Aquarius, its cargo, and a frigate greatly expands the swarm and its technical library. Nie Yun uses its superconductivity, energy storage, and microscopic manufacturing to redesign devices rather than merely copy them. The brothers’ armor demonstrates direct-control combat assistance and rapid medical repair. 51 52 68

Orbital Expansion and East Factory

Self-replicating Space Spies spread through orbital debris, while experiments establish the minimum consciousness unit and the relationship between population, intelligence, and strength. Nie Yun then directs the construction of East Factory on the Moon’s far side, creating a steel-production cycle that supplies further insect proliferation. 95 103 104 121

Lunar exploration later reveals extremely dense energy crystals and a dormant mining complex. The swarm clears access, restores key infrastructure, processes crystal-bearing material, and begins recovering alien probe wreckage. 176 216

Little Octopus and Heavy Mechanical Insects

The battle with Little Octopus reveals that consuming its Mechanical Insect-converted tentacle increases the swarm’s density. Laboratory work identifies a stronger but slower, more energy-intensive material branch. Nie Yun also discovers software-based will infection and gains control of the creature’s insects without erasing its consciousness. 142 146 155

Mass Descent and Distributed Industry

The swarm’s communication network becomes the foundation for neural remote control of ordinary-material robots. This allows Nie Yun to expand the workforce without tying up enormous quantities of insects in every body. Mechanical Insect-built factories, critical-component printing, and conventional production lines jointly support Earth’s industrial expansion. 152 242 322 360

Callisto and the Ranger Takeover

During fighting against the Twin Stars, Synchronization Chips and hidden spiders provide infiltration routes into enemy bases. The swarm spreads through wiring and equipment, then enters the Ranger, sabotages critical systems, and assembles humanoid bodies. Nie Yun physically converts its main computer while the newly developed Mithril Knights defend the operation. 269 277 280 288 289

The two captured warships are subsequently converted into insects. Their technology, together with captured mecha, supplies new designs while the swarm turns the Ranger into a covert hive. 330

Proxima Centauri Infiltration

Nie Yun uses engineering robots to spread insects through a Spaceport without confronting its central AI directly. Silverwing Guards carry additional seeds onto warships, while the Little Monster reaches Kara Star disguised as an asteroid. Later, the swarm compromises the Fallen Angel and spreads into other Third Fleet vessels through mecha and equipment assigned to apparently legitimate duties. 331 372 420 422

Water of Life Research and the Long-Lived One

The insects’ biological-consumption restriction initially blocks analysis of the Water of Life’s plant enzyme. Nie Yun circumvents direct consumption by disguising the insects as iron ions and allowing the enzyme to absorb them, although the dispersed units remain below the threshold for detailed analysis. 412

Against the Long-Lived One, termite-shaped insects penetrate its body and circulation system to locate its consciousness-bearing organ. The swarm later builds factories inside it and performs the modifications required for a semimechanized space fortress. 433 434 443 487

Material-Based Military Escalation

Mechanical Insect construction enables technologies that ordinary industry cannot yet reproduce, including the Swordsman’s shield-piercing blade and enhanced large shields. The Long-Lived One’s planned full mithril conversion makes it an evolving mothership whose weapons can receive continuing online updates. 505 508 514

The Phantom further combines biological mimicry, neural control, and mechanical design. Its Second Gear demonstrates direct conversion of light insects into heavy material, trading free transformation for superior density, defense, speed, and energy transmission. 589 594

Iris Connections and Legendary Mecha Materials

The Iris marking on the Vector Engine leads Nie Yun to investigate a possible common origin among several extraordinary artifacts. Red Dragon’s damaged core then provides direct evidence that another civilization’s irreplaceable superconducting material is a specialized arrangement of Mechanical Insects. 620 621 629

By connecting to the core’s homologous interface, Nie Yun reformats its insects, studies its energy circuits, learns to reproduce its material, and restores it to full operation. These discoveries strengthen—but do not conclusively prove—his reconstruction of a lost Iris super-warship with self-repair, vector maneuvering, advanced computing, and space-jump capabilities. 629 630 770

Control Vulnerabilities and Machine Race Cooperation

The Time Worm demonstrates a distinction between the swarm’s physical durability and its associated electronics: the insects survive while a clone’s control system crashes. Nie Yun deliberately allows the attack to gather data for research. 737

His later cooperation with the Duke of Dawn uses a Mechanical Insect body both as a practical terminal and as a monitored demonstration of strength. Its rapid recovery from a nearly bisecting beam attack impresses the duke and becomes the basis for a technology exchange. 771

Iron Wall Fleet and Online Upgrades

During the Iron Wall campaign, advanced mithril units exploit apparent wreckage as infiltration bait. Lao San’s 13th-Generation Mithril Knight reveals Crystallized Shield protection, while modified Sword Immortal Type II units demonstrate Legendary-class combat power. 802 803 808

Nie Yun also upgrades deployed reconnaissance probes remotely, showing that Mechanical Insect equipment can acquire new internal structures and software capabilities during an active campaign rather than waiting for conventional replacement cycles. 805

Continuing Iris Mystery

The discovery of the Hyperdimensional Observatory adds another Iris artifact to Nie Yun’s investigation. Its faint periodic radiation is theorized to have influenced pan-human evolution and possibly the Long-Lived One and Water of Life. These findings expand the mystery surrounding Iris technology without resolving the precise origin, mutation mechanism, or communication system of the Mechanical Insects. 879

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