Darkness.
Silence.
Then—a heartbeat.
[SYSTEM BOOTING…]
Welcome, User: Mo
Reincarnation complete. Activating Swarm King Protocol.
Initializing: Inventory… Stats… Swarm Evolution Mall…
Mo gasped.
Or—he tried to.
His lungs weren't lungs. Not anymore.
Sticky fluids clung to his face, and the walls of his egg pulsed like wet muscle. He thrashed instinctively, claws tearing through the membrane. The thick green ichor spilled out, splashing onto cracked metal plating beneath him.
Cold air hit his skin—no, not skin. Chitin.
He stumbled out of the egg, naked and trembling, his body eerily humanoid but alien in every way. Translucent black carapace shimmered in the moonlight leaking through the collapsed roof. Four fingers per hand, tipped with claws. Slit pupils adjusted to the dark.
The ruined lab around him was silent. But the bloodstains hadn't dried.
[WARNING: No Swarm Detected.]
[Objective: Establish Brood. Evolve. Survive.]
Mo groaned. "Where the hell am I?"
[Planet Designation: LV-732.]
[Environment: Terraforming Colony, abandoned. Biosignatures detected: Xenomorph (1), Human (6), Yautja (1).]
He blinked. The names meant something. Some memory whispered across his consciousness—movies? No. A past life.
Alien. Predator. I'm in that universe…
Footsteps echoed in the corridor outside.
A flashlight beam swept across the bloodied lab walls. A pair of voices followed.
"...I swear the signal came from here. Some kind of…bio-signature. But it's not Xeno. Not Yautja either."
"Great. Another bug to worry about. Maybe it's one of those fucking corporate experiments gone rogue again."
Mo crouched low, pressing himself against a wall, heart racing.
He peeked through a crack in the rusted doorway. Two humans in security armor. Pulse rifles. Nervous.
His claws twitched.
[New Feature Unlocked: Pheromone Scan Lv.1]
[Use pheromones to assess threats or manipulate lesser minds.]
"...I need to hide. I'm not ready yet."
He turned to retreat—
But the door creaked under his weight.
"Contact!"
The first guard raised his rifle. Mo darted sideways with unnatural speed. Gunfire exploded behind him, peppering the wall with holes. His feet scrambled across a ventilation duct and he dove in, breathing hard, shaking.
Bullets wouldn't kill him—not yet—but they'd hurt. And he wasn't strong enough.
[Damage Sustained: -8 HP]
[System Suggestion: Devour biomass to initiate healing and upgrade.]
The vents led him to a maintenance room. Inside, a decomposed corpse in a jumpsuit slumped against the wall. The body was riddled with old slashes—not bullets. Something had torn this person apart.
Mo hesitated. "Gross."
[Consume?]
[Y/N]
He swallowed his pride—and something else.
[Biomass Consumed: Human (Engineer)]
[Skill Fragment Acquired: Basic Structural Memory]
[Swarm Core Level 1 reached.]
[New Organ Unlocked: Ovipositor Node (Dormant)]
[New Feature Unlocked: Larval Incubation – 0/1]
He coughed violently. Something shifted inside his chest.
His fingers twitched—and for a brief moment, he felt a flicker of life spark within his core. The first seed of the swarm.
"I'm not alone anymore…"
But something screeched in the distance.
A sound no human had ever made.
No Predator either.
Xenomorph.
And it was coming close
The shriek echoed through the hollowed-out ventilation shaft like a dying siren.
It wasn't human. It wasn't alive, not the way Mo was anymore.
It was a Xenomorph.
He gritted his teeth as the sound died out, replaced by the subtle scraping of claws on steel. It was close. Hunting. Intelligent.
[Threat Level: Medium][Tactical Suggestion: Avoid direct engagement. Unlock defensive protocols.]
Mo whispered through clenched teeth. "Give me something, System. I need options."
[Opening SWARM MALL Lv.1…]
A hex-grid menu burned itself into the edges of his vision—no HUD, no AR display. The information simply was, flooding his brain in pure data:
[Neuro-Spike Carapace - 50 Biomass]
[Basic Hive Node (Nest Cavity) - 75 Biomass]
[Pheromone Cloak - 40 Biomass]
[Skill: Predatory Instinct Lv.1 - 30 Biomass]
[Structure: Larval Pit (1 egg cap) - 100 Biomass]
[Instant Learning: Human Anatomy Lv.1 - 20 Biomass]
His mind spun. The possibilities—it wasn't just evolution. It was weaponized adaptation. Biological empire-building. He wasn't a monster. He was a goddamn system boss in the making.
"Too expensive for now…" he murmured. "Gotta hunt."
Maintenance Room – 5 minutes later
Mo stalked the halls on silent feet, feeling the power flowing in trickles beneath his exoskeleton. The biomass from the corpse still buzzed in his core, the beginnings of something new.
But he needed more.
Then—he heard it. A scream.
Cut off by a wet gurgling snap.
The humans.
He crept forward, clinging to the shadows of flickering overhead lights, until he reached the shattered remains of the lab's corridor.
What was left of one of the guards was slumped against a bulkhead, spine twisted like a candy wrapper. Blood painted the walls. Steam rose from his eviscerated torso.
Something dripped from the ceiling.
He looked up.
The Xenomorph was crouched there, head cocked sideways, its mouth dripping acid saliva. It hadn't seen him—yet.
Its tail twitched once. Twice.
Then it leapt.
But not toward Mo.
Toward the other human—running, screaming, trying to reload his pulse rifle.
Too slow.
The Xeno crashed into him like a truck made of bone and hate. The man screamed once before his neck snapped like a twig under the crushing weight.
Blood sprayed across the floor. The scent was delicious.
[Biomass Detected: Xeno Kill (0), Human (2)][WARNING: Xenomorph Presence - Active Predator]
Mo crouched low, waiting.
The Xeno dragged the second body into a corner. Feeding? No—harvesting. It was preparing to bring the corpse back to its hive.
Perfect.
[Consume? Biomass Source: Fresh Corpse - Human][Y/N]
Mo sprinted.
The Xeno's head snapped around, but too late—Mo launched himself like a missile, his claws raking across the torn-open ribcage of the corpse.
The biomass surged through him.
[Biomass Gained: +50][Instant Learning Unlocked: Human Anatomy Lv.1][Skill Learned: Muscular Efficiency Lv.1]
A searing pain burned into his back—and suddenly, the Xeno was on him.
Its inner jaw launched forward, barely missing his skull. Acidic drool hissed against his carapace.
He roared—not a human scream, not anymore, but a high-pitched chittering screech that echoed through the corridors.
Mo rolled under its next strike, slashing its leg with a claw that sparked against its chitin. Black blood sprayed—acid—burning the wall beside him.
[Minor Wound Sustained: -12 HP][Warning: Acid Damage. Retreat Suggested.]
"I'm not ready," he growled. "But one day…"
He leapt through a service hatch and disappeared into the dark.
Safe Zone – Lower Sublevel, Terraforming Chamber
He limped into the dark and collapsed. The systems buzzed.
[Biomass Stored: 85][Build option unlocked: Basic Hive Node][Would you like to construct your first Hive?][Y/N]
He hesitated.
Then grinned, fangs bared.
"Hell yes."
He pressed a claw into the steel floor—and the system responded.
Sinew erupted from his palm like living root systems. It melted into the metal, warping and reshaping it. Walls trembled. The air filled with the wet squelch of organic matter fusing to synthetic alloy.
In seconds, a nest cavity formed—a pulsating mass of bio-tissue, glowing faintly green. Warm. Breathing.
[Basic Hive Node Constructed][Larval Capacity: 1][New Option Unlocked: Spawn Swarmling Lv.1 - 50 Biomass]
"Yes," Mo whispered. "Let's build an empire."
He selected it.
Pain shot through his chest.
His ribs opened like petals, and from deep within his body, a soft squirming shape slid out—wrapped in slick membrane, twitching, blind but alive.
The first.
The very first of the Swarm.
It hissed as it hit the Hive Node, fusing into the biomass. The pod pulsed. The larva uncurled.
[Swarmling Hatchling Created - "Unit #001"][Command Link: Established]
It crawled toward him, clicking, nuzzling his leg like a newborn.
His chest swelled with something twisted—pride? Hunger? Purpose?
All three.
[Tutorial: You are now a Swarm King. Through biomass, evolution, and will, your empire shall grow. Every kill feeds your hive. Every death brings new life.]
But even as he rested, he heard it.
The sound of heavy boots above.
More humans.
And farther still…
A clicking laugh, deep and guttural.
Predator.
Mo's grin sharpened.
Let them come.
The King of the Swarm had awakened.