Origin

"Overmind, the Cerebrates on the planet have detected numerous hyperspace signatures. New enemies will arrive soon."

What! They won't even let me catch my breath?

"Who is the enemy? Why does the Swarm have so many enemies?" Zhang Han asked.

"The enemy is the Stellaris Council, of course. The Stellaris Council encompasses every interstellar civilization in Galaxy 427. So they are all our enemies," the Hive Mind said as though it were only natural.

No, wait! I know the Swarm is powerful, but you can't take on an entire galaxy's civilizations at once! Don't you have diplomacy?

"Give me a detailed account of everything that happened, and be quick." Now was not the time to complain. Gathering intelligence was what mattered.

"In fact, my knowledge is very limited. Because you suddenly went offline, we lost contact with the Hive Brain. What I know of the events is as follows."

"The Swarm came into being very early and was among the first civilizations to reach the stars. We are different from other civilizations. We ventured into the universe neither for knowledge nor out of curiosity."

"We did it to evolve, to seize more biomass, enrich our gene pool, and allow the Swarm civilization to evolve to greater heights."

"Our homeworld is not in this galaxy. Its location is not marked in my memory banks. Our purpose in coming to this galaxy was also simply to devour more biomass and evolve further. This is an instinct encoded in the Swarm's genes."

"But recently, we suffered a defeat." Zhang Han could hear the dejection in the Hive Mind's voice.

"Because we had to travel between galaxies, the Swarm that first arrived in Galaxy 427 was not large. Our plan was to develop quietly for a time, then devour the galaxy once we were strong enough."

"But this galaxy is strange."

"The intelligent civilizations here can make contact with something called the Shroud. They used the Shroud to foresee our arrival and discover where we would enter this galaxy. We obtained this information from the minds of prisoners we took from them."

As they communicated mentally through the Swarm network, Zhang Han could distinctly sense the Hive Mind's amazement at the existence of the Shroud.

"Later, the Stellaris Council of Galaxy 427 assembled all the interstellar civilizations and launched a preemptive strike against us."

"Even caught by surprise, our Swarm still had a chance of victory. As long as the battle reached a stalemate, we would gradually overwhelm our opponents with numbers, just as we had before."

"But they invented a weapon, one based on the Shroud. This weapon specifically targeted you, Overmind. It generated powerful psionics that temporarily shattered your consciousness. After that, deprived of command, the Swarm fell apart."

"So many Hatcheries began hatching their own Queens and Logic Cerebrates to take your place in commanding the Swarm against the enemy."

"I did not do that. I reshaped the Swarm using the memories in the fragments of your consciousness and waited for you to awaken. Fortunately, my wait was rewarded." The Hive Mind was like the most loyal of subordinates, never betraying him.

"Can we contact the other swarms? We can unite against the Stellaris Council. I'm the Overmind; they ought to accept my command." Zhang Han now felt that the situation might not be so bad, if he could reunite the fragmented Swarm.

"I'm sorry, Overmind. We can only rely on ourselves now. First, with the emergence of Queens and Logic Cerebrates, ambition emerged as well. The once-united Swarm can no longer fight together. After you went offline, the administrative permissions collapsed as well, so the Swarm Nodes all became independent."

"Every Queen, Logic Cerebrate, and Swarm Node considers itself the true heir to the Swarm. They fight not only the Stellaris Council, but other swarms as well." The Hive Swarm Consciousness expressed deep regret.

"Ah, we're off to a bad start. We really can only rely on ourselves. Speed up the hatching of more mutant Ultralisks and mutant Brood Lords, and ordinary units too. How many swarm units can we hatch before the enemy arrives?" Disappointed by the Hive Mind's answer, Zhang Han could only face reality.

"According to the Cerebrates' estimates, the enemy fleet will emerge from hyperspace in two hours. They will launch an attack on the planet in three hours."

"At the Hatchery's current hatching efficiency, we can hatch two million Zerglings, five hundred thousand Roaches, two hundred thousand Hydralisks, five thousand Ultralisks, five thousand Mutalisks, one thousand Corruptors, five hundred Devourers, three hundred mutant Ultralisks, and two hundred mutant Brood Lords before the enemy attacks."

"Why so few mutant units? You should invest more bioenergy in mutant units." Hatching so many combat units in just three hours was already terrifying, but Zhang Han was still very dissatisfied.

"Overmind, I am already hatching them as fast as I can. This is the optimal solution. Mutant units are stronger in combat, but they also consume more resources. Ordinary supporting units are indispensable if they are to have the greatest effect."

"Let's hope the enemy isn't too strong. Aside from the Cerebrates' reconnaissance, do you have any intelligence on them?" Only by knowing both himself and the enemy could he win every battle and make the appropriate arrangements.

This time, the Hive Swarm Consciousness did not answer Zhang Han immediately. It remained silent for three minutes. Just as Zhang Han thought the calculations were too extensive and was about to tell it to stop, the Hive Mind spoke.

"Great Overmind, I recommend retreat."

"Retreat? Why? Is the enemy that powerful?" Zhang Han was surprised too. He had thought that with the Hatchery hatching at full capacity, together with the remaining Swarm, they could at least put up a fight against this new force from the Stellaris Council. He had not expected the calculated result to be retreat.

"My Infestor just captured a prisoner in the enemy base on the surface. The Infestor took control of his consciousness and extracted his memories."

"The Stellaris Council fleet coming as reinforcements belongs to the Antil Military Empire, one of its three permanent member states. They originated from a nomadic tribe, and their national culture is martial."

"Since the war with the Swarm began, they have consistently been the interstellar empire most eager to fight us. Though their soldiers cannot match the Swarm's disregard for death, they can face death fearlessly to a degree. My database contains more than one file recording how they fought the Swarm to the last man."

"Their fleet and military technology are also extremely advanced. The Little Blue Men we just fought are merely their vassal state. Their technology and will to fight fall far short of their overlord's."

"Unless our Swarm's numbers triple, we cannot possibly hold them off. The disparity in strength is absolute. That is why I recommend retreat," the Hive Mind analyzed calmly this time.

If Zhang Han were asked to command the Swarm in battle against the enemy, he could manage it. But this was his first time being an Overmind, and before transmigrating, he had only been an ordinary person. When it came to decisive planning, Zhang Han felt that trusting the Hive Mind's judgment was surely the right choice.

"All right, let's retreat, then. How do we retreat, and where do we go? Do you have a plan?"

"Yes. I had already selected a backup planet. My original plan was to go dormant on that planet if you could not awaken, until a consciousness similar to the Overmind's awakened me."

After the Hive Mind finished speaking, a blue-green planet appeared in Zhang Han's mind, accompanied by a star chart.