I Am The Swarm-Chapter 726: Escape

Echolocation, as a device or ability, was not an advanced concept for the Swarm, who had reached their current level in biotechnology.

The export version of the Swarm’s bio-armor already included this feature. It could be inferred that the Swarm Empress’s limited-edition set would undoubtedly possess this capability as well.

When the Ji soldiers activated their stealth systems, using dense smoke to block optical observation, far-infrared, and heat detection methods, the only way for the Swarm Empress to continue attacking and locate their positions seemed to be through echolocation.

While the combat suits muted internal sounds like breathing and communication, they couldn’t completely eliminate noise generated from external contact. Even with careful movements, traces could still be detected.

However, this required a relatively quiet environment, posing a significant challenge for the Swarm Empress. To locate the Ji soldiers, she needed to reduce her speed, at least avoiding creating sonic booms at will.

But reducing speed meant the echolocation system integrated into the Ji soldiers’ personal protective suits would come into play. Once the Swarm Empress slowed down, with the help of their auxiliary systems, the Ji soldiers’ chances of hitting her would significantly increase.

Previously, in order to capture her alive, the Ji soldiers refrained from using lethal force. However, now facing life-threatening situations, most had switched their weapon components. It remained to be seen whether the Swarm Empress’s armor could withstand close-range anti-matter rifle fire.

This wasn’t an arena; only one side could walk out alive. Moreover, the Swarm Empress’s goal wasn’t to kill more Ji soldiers, so she had other options.

She casually picked up a few high-explosive grenades from the fallen Ji soldiers and threw them toward where the surviving Ji soldiers were before the smoke covered them. Although they had changed positions, to minimize noise and maintain formation, they hadn’t moved far. The high-explosive grenades were sufficient to affect them.

“Boom!” In the muffled explosion, several unlucky soldiers were caught in the blast. Though the shockwave didn’t penetrate their protective suits, they were left somewhat disheveled.

However, the tunnel walls weren’t as resilient. The previously compacted soil had loosened due to earlier sonic booms. Now hit by the explosion, some sections collapsed instantly.

A small number of Ji soldiers were buried, but such injuries wouldn’t kill them quickly. They could wait for their teammates to dig them out.

“Teams Five, Seven, Eight, follow me to chase the target. The rest, tend to the wounded, wait for reinforcements, and guide them here!” After a quick survey, the Ji squad leader selected three relatively intact teams and led the charge into the dark depths of the tunnel.

Repeated setbacks made the team channel somewhat subdued. Everyone trudged along silently.

“Stay alert! Reinforcements are almost here, we still have a chance!” The squad leader wasn’t much of a comforter, but he had to find a way to boost morale.

Unexpectedly, his words opened the floodgates for others to speak.

“How can the Swarm Empress be so powerful? Without propulsion assistance, relying solely on bio-armor, can it really achieve that level?”

“Just like those superheroes in the movies, I never thought I’d be fighting a character from films!”

“It is indeed outrageous. Remember, at first, she even needed her bodyguard to carry her!”

“That’s the most infuriating part, it completely misled us! I always thought she was a frail female!”

“That’s the Swarm for you, some anomalies are expected.”

“There are rumors that the Swarm retained many primitive customs due to their rapid development. I didn’t believe it before, but if someone told me now that the Swarm Empress was elected based on combat prowess, I’d definitely believe it.”

“She is indeed the strongest humanoid creature I’ve ever seen.”

“Perhaps all the credit goes to her armor. Our previous assessment was wrong; its energy system isn’t a weak point! We should report this.”

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“Our superiors are always watching us, and Selina transmits our battle situation in real-time. Whatever we think of, the higher-ups have probably already considered.”

This soldier was correct. At this moment, the command room behind them was discussing their situation.

“Pity, we were so close to success.”

“No pity needed; being close was just an illusion, all part of the Swarm Empress’s deliberate scheme.”

“However, her capabilities truly exceed our expectations.”

“Hmph, she hid her ace for so long, and she could only use it once. Next time, we’ll deploy personnel targeting her new abilities.”

“Don’t let your guard down. Who knows what else she might be hiding. With her current combat power, it’s hard to counteract. A negative energy blade and shield make her almost invulnerable. Especially underground, where our large combat units can’t enter, capturing her is extremely difficult.”

“In fact, there are still weaknesses. If there weren’t, she wouldn’t need to create such misunderstandings; she could have fought head-on with her shield.”

“Indeed, I feel it’s still an issue with energy supply. Although her energy system is stronger than we imagined, it hasn’t reached a qualitative change. Her choice to flee instead of continuing to fight the soldiers probably indicates insufficient energy supply.”

“If that thing is truly a relic of an unknown civilization, we can even speculate about its technological level back then.”

“From the use of negative energy, slightly better than us, and the energy system still relies on dark energy, similar to us. But in other technologies, who knows? Maybe we’re stronger. Overall, it’s about equal.”

“That’s good. It means even if the Swarm inherits all of the legacy, their ceiling is about the same as ours now. With so many resources at our disposal, even in a war of attrition, we can easily take them down.”

“What the Swarm makes us covet isn’t just what’s on the surface.”

“Heh, maybe it’s not as good as you imagine. After all, its creators have disappeared. Let’s focus on practical things right now. Many of the Swarm’s technologies are quite interesting and worth learning from.”

“True, but no matter what, we must see for ourselves first. Capturing the Swarm Empress is the most convenient way. If it turns out as we guessed, history will forever remember our names.”

“Hopefully. For now, let’s focus on capturing the target.”

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I was messing with chatgpt’s new 4o image generation and it’s honestly insane how good it is. I put this chapter in and told it to create me a manga version of the chapter and this is what it gave me for the 1st page:

I’m shocked about how good it looks with barely any prompt engineering. I also asked for it to give me a comic version with text and guns, here is the result:

It crazy how well it’s done with barely any input from me, and if it’s already like this then humans are cooked lol. Anyways I thought this was cool and I’m defo gonna figure out how far I can push this. Let me know what you guys think in the comments.