Miniature Seeds

Given the current situation, Rowan certainly wouldn't choose to reveal the Swarm's ability to detect and capture Epoch Clan surveillance equipment. Even a civilization Duoqi Civilization, which had been a member of the Alliance for thousands of years, couldn't do this, yet the Zerg, who had only appeared on the interstellar stage for a few hundred years, could. The Swarm were already eye-catching enough; they didn't need to be any more dazzling.

Although Bular had some speculations, he didn't have any concrete evidence. Moreover, according to him, the relationship between the Epoch Clan, the Epoch Clan and the Star Sea Alliance, and the Star Sea Alliance itself was a complete mess. It was uncertain whether the Telo Civilization would reveal this speculation.

Regardless, after obtaining some intelligence, Rowan discovered that the Swarm's situation was much better than he had originally imagined—a situation where they were surrounded by enemies and their armies were about to invade.

Even if they wanted to conceal their strength, they still needed to locate all the Epoch Clan surveillance cameras. They wouldn't destroy them, but at least they needed to know their whereabouts to prepare for their next plan.

Some new types of scout insects were released. These scout insects were extremely small, dozens or even hundreds of times smaller than Rowan's original fingernail-sized insects. Each individual was composed of only a few dozen cells. This was Rowan's experiment with extremely small organisms.

They use the basic template of Atmospheric Creature. Due to their small size, they only need to absorb a small amount of radiation energy to sustain themselves.

Because their cells are few, their function is extremely limited; they can only sense electromagnetic signals within a certain range and frequency band. They have almost no autonomous movement ability and no information transmission module, but as Node Unit, they can rely on the Swarm Network to communicate.

Similarly, because they are so small, they don't even need to add any cloaking modules to evade almost all detection equipment. In space, practically no one would pay attention to something so tiny. And even if they were discovered, extraterrestrial civilizations wouldn't be able to figure out what these tiny insects, composed of only a few dozen cells and completely lacking any independent consciousness, are doing.

These are reconnaissance insects specifically designed to counter the Epoch Clan's surveillance system. Although each insect has a very small sensing range, their sheer numbers make up for it. A single mature Insect Empress can produce hundreds of millions of these insects every day. They are deployed from the Ancient Class and spread across several major star systems in just a few months.

Under the scrutiny of such a dense swarm of insects, the Epoch Clan's surveillance system had nowhere to hide and was marked one by one.

Now that we know their locations, we can proceed with the next plan.

Using the obstruction and interference of planets and the Ancient Class swarm, some Swarm Meteor were ejected into the blind spots of the Epoch Clan's surveillance system. Unlike previous Swarm Meteor, these meteorites vanished into nothingness shortly after being ejected.

However, upon closer inspection, it can be found that they did not disappear, but rather decomposed into countless extremely tiny individuals.

This is Rowan's second miniature creature artwork, following his previous attempt with the scout bug.

Their bodies are covered by a layer of metallic minerals, a genetic ability of the Metal Snail. Although the Metal Snail is a relatively primitive organism, this ability has played an unimaginable role in the development of the Swarm. From early Swarm Meteor to later Electromagnetic Projectile, and even today, it continues to shine.

Encased within the mineral outer layer is a miniature Creep Seed, Rowan's current masterpiece. It integrates so much within just a few cells, almost invisible to the naked eye. Furthermore, it shows no signs of life when dormant.

This mineral outer layer makes them look like ordinary interstellar dust. Even if you peel off this outer layer, it's difficult to find a few cells that haven't dried out. Even if you do find them, you'd just think they're fossil specimens or something like that.

Because of their small size, they are more easily captured by various gravitational sources and attach themselves to meteorites and planets. Once they reach a suitable environment and are activated by the Swarm Network, they will absorb the outer metallic minerals and then, like a real Seed, take root and sprout.

The roots absorb nutrients from the surrounding environment while transporting the main body deeper underground, accumulating energy and lying dormant. When they receive a command from the Swarm, they can mutate into Insect Empress and expand the Swarm's territory.

Although the production cost of these miniature Creep Seed is much higher than that of miniature scout insects due to their metallic outer shell, the current size of the Swarm makes it easily affordable.

Some Insect Empress go full steam ahead, producing tens of millions of tiny Creep Seed every day, which they then briefly bind together before launching them out through a projectile.

The direction of these projectiles was primarily towards the inner circle of the Star Sea Alliance. Although an agreement had been reached with the Telo Civilization that the Swarm would not expand into the inner circle, this was essentially a delaying tactic. Besides, given the technological level of those nascent civilizations, the depths of a planet were difficult to explore. The Swarm's actions of helping them loosen the soil were purely out of goodwill.

When they are friendly with the Swarm, they will be absolutely unable to detect any anomalies inside the planet. However, when they become hostile to the Swarm, the agreement will naturally be abolished, and they will definitely have a huge surprise.

Meanwhile, on the other side, in the outer ring, a large number of Ancient Class or higher Space Octopus are advancing towards that direction via Electromagnetic Megastructure. In those unclaimed territories, the Swarm don't need to be so secretive in their development.

Of course, the necessary low profile should still be maintained. Given the capabilities the Swarm has demonstrated so far, if they don't develop the outer perimeter or develop it too discreetly so that it goes unnoticed, it would seem too fake and counterproductive.

However, if development is too rapid, it will attract unnecessary attention. Therefore, Rowan's plan is a mix of truth and deception. Development is definitely going to happen, but the scale and speed of development must be kept within reasonable limits.

For example, just like those star systems facing the inner circle, apart from the Swarm forces lying in the open, no one knows the size of the Swarm hidden underground on the planets. Moreover, even the obviously dead forces have been technically concealed.

Space Octopus are soft-bodied organisms that primarily use Creep as templates. They can connect to the Creep to recharge and can also link together with each other. By compressing unnecessary gaps within their bodies, several or even a dozen Space Octopus can be glued together without significantly increasing their size.

Although this reduces the efficiency of energy absorption, it can serve as a hiding place for troops. After all, a planet is too small compared to the vast universe. Even if it were completely hollowed out, how many troops could it hold? Moreover, even with the help of radioactive minerals, troops hidden underground would not grow as fast as those basking in the sun near a star.

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