I Am The Swarm-Chapter 619: Fusion

The biological armor had been activated and began to fuse with its host, but there was still no audio feedback. Everything on the other side was proceeding in silence, or perhaps there was communication, but the information was being blocked from the biological armor.

Given the technological level of the Ji Race, achieving this wasn’t difficult. Sound requires a medium to propagate, and if the biological armor was isolated in an environment similar to a vacuum, it would be unable to receive any signals.

However, since the fusion had begun, the biological armor must have already come into contact with the host’s body. Even in a vacuum, the body itself serves as a medium for sound transmission. The fact that the biological armor still hadn’t received any audio feedback suggested that the host hadn’t made any sounds.

Since the biological armor lacked an optical reception system, Luo Wen still didn’t know who the host was. However, the only living being Luo Wen knew of in the castle was Sade.

Th𝗲 most uptodate novels are published on ƒгeewёbnovel.com.

Luo Wen thought carefully, even quickly reviewing the surveillance footage of the castle from various angles over the past period. Indeed, aside from the mechanical servants, no other living beings had entered the castle.

And biological armor certainly couldn’t fuse with mechanical units. If Sade was the only living being in the castle, then he must be the host.

If that were the case, he was likely communicating with others remotely via a video interaction system. After all, it was impossible for him to analyze the biological armor alone; he would need a professional team.

But even if the host was Sade, wouldn’t he need to communicate with others via video? Were they using gestures to communicate?

Was Sade taking out the biological armor every day to check if it had an optical reception system? Luo Wen scratched his head. This was indeed a possibility. Unlike auditory systems, which can be hidden within the body, visual systems have obvious external features and must be exposed. It was entirely possible to determine their presence through external observation.

Alternatively, perhaps there were other living beings in the castle besides Sade. Had he prepared other experimental subjects? Were they disguised as mechanical servants?

Luo Wen quickly dismissed this idea. First, mechanical servants had very distinct characteristics. To differentiate them from living beings, many parts of their bodies were encased in transparent materials, deliberately showcasing their mechanical features. For example, their heads—Luo Wen couldn’t think of any race in the Confederation whose heads were small enough to fit that description.

Moreover, while the Swarm couldn’t infiltrate the castle using primitive methods, they had more options outside. For instance, the tree-mounted cameras could switch to infrared and adjust to various spectra. Mechanical and biological entities would definitely exhibit differences in certain wavelengths.

The ground-based insects also matched the wheel and footprint marks of the mechanical servants with past records from the same paths. Even the slightest difference in weight would leave a distinct mark.

Under such comprehensive surveillance, the possibility of a living being sneaking into the castle under the Swarm’s watchful eyes wasn’t entirely zero, but it was infinitely close to it.

Furthermore, Sade had no reason to do this. If the Confederation couldn’t even crack the Swarm’s gene lock, they certainly wouldn’t know the characteristics and differences between anchor-point organisms and node organisms. A location 2,000 light-years away from Swarm territory was entirely under their control. There was no need for them to be so secretive.

Was Sade engaging in a battle of wits with thin air? The thought amused Luo Wen. If not for their opposing positions and the fact that he couldn’t reveal himself easily, he would have loved to exchange experiences with Sade on this topic.

However, given Sade’s burly appearance, he probably wouldn’t appreciate the thrill of outsmarting imaginary opponents. Therefore, if there were indeed other living beings in the castle besides Sade, there was only one possibility.

That is, there had always been other living beings in the castle. This was highly likely, as the widespread use of hibernation technology allowed a living being to sleep in a place for years, decades, or even centuries.

This planet had only recently been incorporated into the Swarm network. Who knew what Sade had been doing in the castle before that?

But there was no need to rush. Luo Wen would soon get the answers he wanted. Once the biological armor fused with its host, it could do many things in secret, certainly helping Luo Wen uncover a lot of information.

Suddenly, Luo Wen frowned. Indeed, the host wasn’t Sade.

Although Sade was a Ji Race elder, his body carried the genes of the Black Tower Race, which was unchangeable. Back when the war hadn’t yet begun, Luo Wen had collected genetic samples from many races in the Riken territory.

The Riken Trade City, with Elder Humes, a Ji Race elder, overseeing it, along with numerous pharmaceutical research labs and its flagship product, the longevity serum, had enjoyed a period of prosperity.

Merchant teams from various races flocked to this small city. Over the decades, Luo Wen had managed to collect genetic samples from most of the outer races.

The ones he hadn’t collected were either from a few extremely reclusive and closed-off races or from outer-ring civilizations on the far side of the Confederation’s territory.

These civilizations were separated from the Swarm by the entire Confederation, tens of thousands of light-years away. With their low technological levels, small territories, and sparse populations, the few who ventured out were mostly researchers exchanged with the Ji Race. Almost none traveled independently, and even the rare few who did would find it nearly impossible to cross such vast distances to reach Swarm territory.

However, their strength was negligible in the war between the Confederation and the Swarm. Even without their genetic samples, it made little difference.

As a mainstream power, the powerful Black Tower Race had vast territories and an immense population spread across the Confederation’s domain.

Naturally, attracted by the longevity serum, Black Tower merchants were also present in the Riken Trade City. Their genes, of course, had been collected by Luo Wen.

Although there were some variations and differences within each race’s genes, these were almost negligible when comparing one race to another.

As the biological armor gradually fused with its host, Luo Wen began to parse some of the host’s genetic fragments. Luo Wen could now be considered a master of biology. Even with just a small fragment of genetic material, he could deduce a great deal.

For example, the genetic fragments obtained from the host during the initial stages of fusion, though less than one percent had been parsed, were enough for Luo Wen to confidently determine that they did not belong to the Black Tower Race.

However, although these fragments weren’t from the Black Tower Race, they looked very familiar.