I Am The Swarm

The shipyard’s construction progress had been livestreamed the entire time. As one warship after another launched, the Riken people’s excitement soared. Thanks to coordinated efforts, enthusiasm had remained high over the years.

Each warship, depending on its size, required a crew of 20 to 200 personnel to operate, assisted by artificial intelligence. Adding maintenance and combat staff brought the total number of required personnel to staggering heights.

Thus began a new round of recruitment campaigns.

“Do you want to protect your homeland? Join the army!”

“For the glory of the Riken people! Join the army!”

“Do you want to crush alien invaders? Join the army!”

“Do you want to pioneer a new era? Join the army!”

“Massive warships! Journeying through the stars! Dreamed of it? Join the army!”

“Young one, join the army!”

Backed by both the Federation and corporate interests, a massive number of Riken enlisted. Troops were transported to the colonies, where military camps sprang up, training recruits into qualified soldiers.

At the same time, mercenaries, captured criminals, and even hardened convicts were secretly sent to the colony barracks.

With the loss of the Trinbrian District, these leaderless individuals became prime cannon fodder candidates. Even if they survived the war, they would become the first wave of settlers on any captured ecological planets—paid only in food, a cost-effective labor force.

Everything proceeded in an orderly manner.

Soon enough, Derlin began his third term as President.

“Reggie, are you saying this Cat’s Ear Spaceship represented the pinnacle of Riken technology?”

“Overlord, to be precise, it once did.”

“You’re certain the Riken didn’t have external backing?”

“Overlord, at the time of our departure, yes.”

“…” Luo Wen was speechless. Damn that meticulous phrasing. “You mentioned earlier that intercepted communications from the Riken indicated their technology had advanced rapidly due to external factors?”

“Yes, Overlord.”

“Do you know what those factors were?”

“Unclear. The information provided little detail.”

“How much progress did they make?”

“Also unclear.”

Luo Wen instinctively sensed a major hidden danger but had no concrete evidence. In a century, how much could the Riken have advanced given their baseline? Without backing from a superior civilization, their threat level shouldn’t be too high.

Still, even with low odds, Luo Wen’s cautious nature required thorough investigation before further action.

Regardless, strengthening the Swarm’s own forces remained the top priority.

The Riken expeditionary fleet was finally ready to set sail after decades of preparation.

The fleet exceeded expectations, consisting of 315 warships of various classes, 164 transport ships, over three million personnel, and an immense stockpile of weapons and supplies.

Even if everything went smoothly, the mission would take at least fifty years to complete. For the Riken, with their average lifespan of 300 years, this was still an exceptionally long time.

Though communication technology had improved, enabling faster interstellar correspondence, the immense energy costs meant regular soldiers and officers could not easily stay in touch with family.

Before deployment, all non-prison personnel were given a one-month leave to bid farewell to their families and friends:

“Father, Mother, don’t worry. I’ll bring honor to our family. Wait for my return.”

“Ruth, this may be goodbye for a long time. You should find someone to marry.”

“Brother, let’s share drinks again in fifty years!”

“After the war, the family will gain a territory. Don’t return; develop it as your own. The clan is counting on you.”

In a laboratory, “Big sister, I’m leaving.”

“Mm, stay safe.”

“Don’t you have anything else to tell me?”

“Don’t be reckless. Be careful.”

“You’re so curious about those aliens. Why aren’t you going? Joining the fleet should be easy for you.”

“I can’t. I have other work to do. The Federation won’t let me leave. Maybe this is the curse of being a genius.” The elder sister, a young female Riken, stated this with no hint of boasting, as if reciting a fact.

The younger sister, nearly identical to her, smirked. “If I hadn’t chosen the warship command track, your reverse-engineering project would’ve made much faster progress.”

Her elder sister rolled her eyes, unimpressed.

“Don’t believe me?” the younger one teased. “This mission will mostly have me in stasis pods. For me, it’s just a few years. But you? You’ll live through decades. When I return, you’ll be an old lady with our identical face. Such a waste.”

A subtle twitch in the elder sister’s brows betrayed her irritation. Seeing her younger sister who had caught this detail and smiled happily, she muttered in a low voice, “What an annoying little sister.”

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

The Riken held a grand farewell ceremony, where President Derlin delivered an impassioned speech. All Riken eagerly awaited the fleet’s triumphant return after annihilating the aliens.

The fleet launched gradually from the colonies, taking over a year to fully assemble at the outer asteroid belt of the Riken system.

Once gathered, they accelerated to one-fifth light speed and maintained this velocity in a dispersed formation.

The blue glow of their engines lit up the dark, barren cosmos. From behind, the fleet resembled a cluster of twinkling blue stars—a fast-moving constellation, mesmerizing in its beauty.

Most crew members entered stasis, leaving a skeleton crew awake to rotate through navigation duties every few years.

Years later, a Swarm meteor streaked past the cosmos, casually dropping an Observer Bug.

This tiny bug, indistinguishable from interstellar dust and emitting no energy, avoided detection entirely.

The images it transmitted back to the Swarm, however, were anything but ordinary.

Luo Wen: “???”

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!