A Shift in Focus

Rockets have extremely limited transport capabilities; the efficiency and cost of deploying Swarm into space in this way are simply unimaginable. Therefore, his initial plan was to use rockets to send himself to the moon and then rebuild the Swarm there.

This plan was decided by Rowan before he even started raising the Rat-folk and Small Dinosaur. He even planned to take a gamble: once his main body reached the moon, he would self-destruct the Mother Nest still on the Origin Star. If successful, the Swarm's starting point would advance several levels.

The moon has very low gravity and no atmosphere, making it a much easier base for venturing into the stars.

Of course, in the beginning, this plan was extremely dangerous. Back then, he wasn't a "Net-person," hadn't discovered that the Mother Nest could also incubate the original entity, and hadn't discovered the function of forcibly logging off.

Therefore, one can imagine how long Rowan, who is very "shrewd," pondered over this plan.

Perhaps it was this mindset that influenced his talent, or perhaps it was just luck, but as his abilities were discovered one by one, the risk factor of his plan gradually decreased.

Even if you fail in the end, there will be almost no loss, only some time cost.

For Rowan now, time is the cheapest thing. As long as he can endure it, thousands of years are nothing to him.

Rowan's main body spent some time replenishing the reserves of its Tail Fat Organ in the Creep before entering a cocooning state to repair its body.

Meanwhile, the Yellow Moon Mother Nest began producing Mature Form Worker Ant. Given the size of the Mother Nest, the early development of the lunar base would be very slow. With nothing else to do for the time being, Rowan's consciousness returned to the Origin Star.

"Morgan, the lunar base has been established." In the command hall of the rocket launch center, some Rat-folk were still busy. They were all researchers who had unfortunately died over the years for various reasons. After being modified by the Swarm Network, they were given a young body and, following Morgan's path, infiltrated the Imperial Research Institute again.

After the rocket engine and fuel tank exploded, Morgan sent all the researchers without key personnel back to write experience summaries, leaving only his own people to help Rowan calculate some data.

Although they couldn't track Rowan down, Rowan had been traveling with the remnants of the rocket for a considerable period of time. And the rocket was equipped with some locating instruments.

Thanks to their data, Rowan was able to accurately time his acceleration and turns. Although there were some errors in the data, the final result was still good, and their contribution to the successful landing was significant.

"Excellent, Overlord Majesty! The Swarm has finally taken this step and will now be an interstellar race. As a member of the Swarm, I am truly honored." Morgan, as expected of someone who once served as the Queen's tutor, was a master of flattery. Although he had become slightly less adept due to his age and high position, he had quickly regained his skills after a little practice.

"Alright, you all deserve credit this time, but since we're all on the same side, let's just give you a few words of praise." Actually, there's no need for even verbal praise; the title of "one of us" isn't just for show. Currently, the only one among our own people who isn't entirely pure is the current Queen Kerrigan.

However, given the lifespan of Rat-folk, she will become pure in another twenty or thirty years at most.

Morgan had no objection to verbal praise; it seemed to be taken for granted.

"My Overlord, what is the next plan?"

Rowan thought for a moment. He had already established a base on the moon, so there was no point in the Rat-folk continuing to research rockets. He had painstakingly cultivated the Rat-folk civilization, not to let them develop on their own.

"The rocket's further development can continue, but all relevant personnel should be recruited into our ranks or as backup. We can then redirect the Rat-folk's focus to other disciplines. After Rat-folk, their technology tree was somewhat unbalanced; it's better to develop them more comprehensively."

"Overlord Majesty's words are truly reasonable. As the director of the Imperial Aerospace Research Institute, I believe it is highly inappropriate to have been using so much of the Empire's human and material resources for aerospace research. This will inevitably squeeze the survival environment of other disciplines and cause some unnecessary conflicts. For the sake of the unity and friendship of the Rat-folk, I will suggest to Her Majesty the Queen to reduce the funding for aerospace research and use it to support the development of other disciplines."

"Hmm, not bad, well-reasoned and appropriate." If it weren't for the mental dialogue, Rowan would have liked to slap him twice.

Several days later, at the lunar base, the Mother Nest had produced some Mature Form Worker Ant and Worker Bee, as well as their eggs. It had also produced an Insect Empress's egg, which Rowan had moved before it hatched.

The Insect Egg has now been transferred to a new base on the far side of the moon and has hatched into a larva. It is believed that once it matures, the rate at which the Swarm will mass its forces on the moon will be greatly increased.

After all, this is a classic Zerg opening: mass produce workers and then expand to two bases without proper preparation.

The future development focus of the lunar base has been shifted to the far side of the moon. Because the Yellow Moon only revolves around the sun and does not rotate on its own axis, the far side of the moon cannot be seen from the Origin Star.

Once the Rat-folk's technology develops to its full potential, astronomical telescopes might become widespread someday. Although the Rat-folk civilization is a domesticated race of the Swarm, it has provided the Swarm with considerable assistance.

So for their physical and mental well-being, let's not let them see anything weird or strange when they observe the moon through a telescope.

In the days that followed, Rowan shifted his focus to the lunar base.

Under his guidance, the insects discovered two mines rich in mineral resources, and the metal particles they extracted could be used to create Magnetic Field Generator. With the help of the Worker Bee, the Creep quickly spread across the mining area.

With light, water, and metal ore, the insects have gathered all the necessary production materials. The number of insects in the lunar base is rapidly increasing. Since there are no hostile forces on the moon, no offensive units are produced initially; instead, all production is focused on Worker Bee and support units.

Because the gravity on the moon is very weak, many military units can be made larger than their counterparts on their Origin Star without modifying the template.

For example, Excavator Ant can easily grow to over 10 centimeters in length by following the original template. By slightly strengthening the leg bones and muscles, they can grow to over 1 meter in size.

Of course, due to their Exoskeleton Armor, they need a longer larval stage to grow larger.

Lunar Development II