I Am the Swarm
Chapter 180

A New Template

1,252 words4 min read1 view1mo agoSource
Next

The fastest speed that Atmospheric Creature have ever demonstrated so far was when they chased and stopped the Swarm Meteor.

But whether that's their limit, the Swarm doesn't know.

Logically speaking, with such a low density, the air resistance they face during high-speed movement is unimaginable, making it impossible for them to accelerate to such high speeds.

But the facts speak for themselves: they did it.

However, Rowan no longer needed to guess; he would soon find out what secrets they held.

Inside an underground cave, in a peculiar room.

The room was large enough to accommodate five or six Wind God dancing inside. The walls of the room had undergone special treatment, reinforced bit by bit by the insects using a special kind of sticky substance.

Smooth as a mirror, waterproof and toxic-proof, the room is so well-sealed that air can only circulate through the entrance passage, making it feel somewhat oppressive.

Fortunately, Rowan's body has its own Ecological Circulation Chamber, so it doesn't need to absorb outside air, and this doesn't affect him much.

After entering the cave, the Wind God, through a series of indescribable actions, "retrieved" the limbs of the Atmospheric Creature from their Storage Stomach Pouch.

These substances didn't appear as clouds at this point; instead, they resembled a transparent liquid. Upon exposure, they drifted towards the ceiling, but unfortunately, that area had been treated and specially protected. Therefore, the substances ended up floating on the ceiling, unable to leave.

Rowan no longer cared about the method of transporting these substances. After a few moments of self-hypnosis, he spread his elytra and pounced on the substances.

The battle continued in the sky outside the cave.

The Atmospheric Creature were covered in Electric Arc of blue Electric Arc, which acted as a barrier that could inflict various negative effects on the Wind God, such as paralysis, burns, and stinging.

Fortunately, the Wind God was also quite large, and its body was protected by a magnetic field. Even if it was temporarily paralyzed, it could recover quickly and there were no non-combat casualties.

The Atmospheric Creature possessed dozens of long tentacles, which were capable of directly pulling at the falling Swarm Meteor. Although many were torn off, they ultimately managed to stop the Spore Sac meteorite. This demonstrates the immense power of the Atmospheric Creature.

This force caused them to entangle the Wind God, making it difficult for the Wind God to break free on its own, not to mention that they were electrified.

The charred bodies of the Wind God continued to fall from the sky, crashing onto the purplish-gray Creep below. After more than half an hour, over a thousand Wind God had perished, their corpses forming a thick layer on the ground.

It didn't matter; the massive body that had landed first was already slowly sinking into the Creep.

These Wind God were created specifically for this battle; after this war, the Swarm's air force will undoubtedly undergo a large-scale upgrade.

These outdated versions will lose their value. Even if they don't die on the spot, they will most likely be recycled or disposed of later, or used to fight Atmospheric Creature in other areas.

Therefore, even if all of these tens of thousands of Wind God were wiped out in this battle, Rowan wouldn't feel bad.

However, the template of the Wind God also comes from another planet. It is a top species that has dominated the sky for countless years. It is not to be trifled with. When it lost more than a thousand of its own, the Atmospheric Creature on the other side also lost dozens of their own, leaving only a dozen or so, which were barely surviving.

Although Atmospheric Creature surpassed the Wind God in all attributes, they were simply too few in number and had too little endurance.

In combat mode, the flashing blue Electric Arc covering their bodies are an extremely heavy burden for them. This mode consumes energy too quickly, and after fighting for so long, the blue Electric Arc on the remaining dozen or so Atmospheric Creature are almost invisible.

After the blue Electric Arc disappeared, their speed, strength, and other attributes decreased in all aspects, and they were torn apart by the Wind God almost instantly.

It now appears that their last stop "playing" with the Spore Sac meteorite wasn't because they had had enough, but because they had run out of energy.

After finishing their battle, the Wind God landed on the ground, replenished their nutrients from the surrounding Creep, and then flapped their wings and flew off into the distance again.

There are too many of them left over; instead of recycling them directly, let them make a further contribution.

In the blink of an eye, the area that was just fiercely fighting was now completely silent. The piles of corpses that had once covered the ground had gradually disappeared, revealing the purplish-gray Creep beneath.

Deeper underground, an Insect Cocoon several tens of centimeters long lay quietly.

Rowan, who had already moved to the Swarm Network, uploaded the Atmospheric Creature genes as soon as his main body harvested and analyzed them. Then, the Yellow Moon Mother Nest, far away on the other side of the Red Moon, downloaded this genetic information.

More than ten days later, an Atmospheric Creature, five or six meters long, appeared above the Red Moon.

Through collaborative research by Rowan and numerous other Intellect in related fields, it was discovered that the body structure of these Atmospheric Creature is primarily composed of a low-density aerogel material.

This substance weighs only 0.15 milligrams per cubic centimeter, much lighter than air. Therefore, it doesn't need to do anything else; its extremely low weight allows it to float in the air and swim like a fish.

At the same time, although Atmospheric Creature look like clouds, they are not actually white; in fact, they are more transparent. However, because their refractive index is much higher than that of air, they cannot remain invisible in the air.

It's also because they like to stay in environments with white clouds around them, absorbing some of the light reflected from the clouds, which makes their own color look like that of white clouds.

However, the massive bodies of Atmospheric Creature on the resource-scarce A7B5 cannot meet their energy needs simply by eating. Therefore, they evolved a completely different energy acquisition and circulation system.

This system is completely different from the life forms on the Origin Star. They do not have organs for eating and digestion, but they can generate electricity through the friction of their body tissues. They can also collect the power of lightning from the friction of clouds to directly charge their bodies. It can be said that Atmospheric Creature forms are themselves floating giant energy collectors.

Moreover, they can even absorb the power of various types of radiation and convert it into electrical energy to power themselves. This is far more efficient than Rowan's internal ecological capsule system. And coincidentally, there is a giant radiation source right next to the A7B5 where they live.

When 15 Swarm Meteor entered Planet A7, the outer shell of the Spore Sac, which could withstand space radiation, was eventually penetrated, and the Insect Egg and Creep Seed inside died from the massive radiation.

This shows just how terrifying the radiation from Planet A7 is. Yet, this radiation becomes a lifeline for these Atmospheric Creature; for them, Planet A7 is like a giant charger.

End of Chapter
Prev
NovelSummaries
Next

Explore the wiki

Comments