I Am The Swarm-Chapter 613: The Plan

The accident on the distant, chaotic traffic route, accompanied by the loud explosion, didn’t trigger the castle’s alert system, but it did startle a flock of birds passing by. The combination of flames, thick smoke, and the deafening noise was more than enough to scare the timid birds. The cumulative effect of these three elements was far greater than the sum of their parts.

The flock, which had been flying in formation along a set path, was thrown into chaos by the sudden disturbance. Some birds panicked and scattered in all directions, and a few inevitably strayed into the castle’s restricted airspace below.

The castle’s artificial intelligence, tasked with defending against intruders, faithfully executed its programmed protocols—even though the intruders were just birds.

Hidden mechanisms in the garden and lawn surrounding the castle quickly activated. Several turrets emerged from the ground, swiftly locking onto their targets and opening fire without hesitation.

The Ji Race’s technology far surpassed that of the rest of the Confederation, and the defense systems of a Ji elder’s residence were among the most advanced in the galaxy. The birds, being primitive creatures, stood no chance against such firepower.

Most of the birds were instantly vaporized by concentrated energy beams. Even those that hadn’t entered the restricted airspace were targeted simply because they resembled the intruders.

However, one bird seemed to have divine intervention on its side. Just as the energy beam was about to hit it, the bird suddenly changed direction, causing the shot to miss.

The beam grazed its neck, severing half of it along with the bird’s head. The lifeless body, propelled by inertia, plummeted toward the castle.

Now devoid of life, the bird was no longer a target for the castle’s defense systems. Its body continued its trajectory, heading straight for one of the castle’s open windows.

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Luo Wen had chosen this day for his operation because the castle’s windows were opened for ventilation once every ten days, and today was one of those days.

During the previous ventilation period, Luo Wen had used a distant insect to observe the interior of the castle. He had noticed a large porcelain vase positioned directly opposite one of the windows.

While the castle itself was heavily guarded, the surrounding garden area had a lower level of security. At the very least, insects were allowed to exist among the plants.

Thus, Luo Wen had meticulously mapped out the locations of the hidden defense systems in the garden. He had carefully planned today’s operation, and the trajectory of the falling bird’s body had been precisely calculated.

The bird’s lifeless body would pass through the castle’s active defense systems, accelerating as it fell. Within seconds, it would strike the vase with pinpoint accuracy.

The echo-location system hadn’t provided much information because the castle’s interior was usually silent. Luo Wen’s solution was simple: create some noise.

Unfortunately, Luo Wen had underestimated the Ji Race’s defensive technology. Just as the bird’s body approached the window, a force field shield suddenly activated in front of it.

Splat!

The Ji Race inadvertently showcased another impressive piece of technology. The falling bird’s body collided with the force field as if it had hit a solid wall. The shattered remains and blood hung in mid-air for a moment before the force field dissipated, allowing the debris to fall straight to the ground.

Two cleaning robots immediately arrived to collect the remains and carefully restore the area to its original state.

Luo Wen had previously encountered the repulsion fields used by various members of the Confederation. However, their devices were typically large, energy-intensive, and required significant preparation time. Their reaction speeds were nowhere near as fast as the equipment the Ji Race had just demonstrated. Thus, Luo Wen’s carefully laid plan was thwarted.

However, as the saying goes, “When the cart reaches the mountain, there will be a path; beyond the dark willows and bright flowers lies another village.” Although Plan A had failed, Plan B unexpectedly succeeded.

The loud explosion from the distant accident sent shockwaves crashing into the castle like a tidal wave. The sound squeezed through the open windows, reverberating through the empty halls and creating echoes that bounced back and forth.

With the help of these echoes, the castle’s internal layout began to take shape in Luo Wen’s echo-location system. The mysterious interior of the castle was slowly revealed to him.

Luo Wen had previously attempted to use external sounds to map the castle’s interior, but he quickly discovered that insects couldn’t get close enough, and their chirping would trigger the castle’s alert system.

Birds couldn’t approach the castle either, and their distant calls were too faint to be effective. Moreover, birds circling the castle would also draw the attention of the defense systems.

Most importantly, Luo Wen couldn’t afford to make repeated attempts. The artificial intelligence controlling the castle’s defenses had centuries of environmental data. While one or two anomalies might be dismissed as normal, exceeding a certain threshold would immediately flag the castle as under attack.

That would be disastrous for Luo Wen’s plans. So, he decided to go all out and create a major disturbance. The modified flying car he had prepared was equipped with a high-powered sonic bomb. While it was a bit extreme, a single incident like this wouldn’t raise too many suspicions.

The faint echoes continued to reverberate through the castle, and most of the internal structure was now mapped out. However, some areas remained obscured, their thick soundproofing materials standing firm against the sound waves like immovable boulders.

This wasn’t a problem. These areas appeared as shadows in the echo-location map, making them easy to identify. If there were any hidden spaces, they would undoubtedly be located within these shadows.

The location of the biological armor, confirmed through three-dimensional calculations, coincided with one of these shadowed areas. It was likely the site of the castle’s storage facility.

After the commotion died down, the damage caused by the collision was cleaned up. However, the unusual noise had been flagged by the castle’s AI and sent to the relevant departments for investigation.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that the two flying car drivers had no prior connections or criminal records, and there was no apparent motive for them to deliberately cause the accident.

After all, while flying cars had decent protective features, they were far from being as robust as warships. A one-sided collision might have left some survivors, but a head-on crash had killed both drivers instantly. No one would be reckless enough to plan such a pointless accident at the cost of their lives.

The cause of the loud noise was also identified. One of the flying cars used a propulsion system that required a highly specialized fuel. This fuel, when subjected to intense impact, would combust violently, producing a loud explosion similar to that of a sonic bomb.