I Am The Swarm

In the blink of an eye, twenty years passed, and the negotiations remained at a standstill. The members from the Troi civilization who attended the meetings had already been replaced multiple times.

For some members of other civilizations, sleeping for decades or even centuries was perfectly normal. After all, time passed imperceptibly during cryosleep. However, Luo Wen struggled to adapt to this concept of time.

For such a trivial matter to drag on this long?

They had completely redefined the meaning of efficiency, and Luo Wen suddenly felt 80% of the pressure on his shoulders dissipate. With how things were proceeding, even if they were discussing whether to go to war with the Swarm, it might take them centuries of arguing to reach a conclusion.

Just as Luo Wen thought this endless stalling would continue, another event disrupted the rhythm. It came from the Riken.

The Third Prince’s actions, despite attempts at secrecy, had finally been exposed—his failed invitation could no longer be hidden.

Since the Swarm had yet to join the Interstellar Technological Confederation, there were no formal diplomatic exchanges or channels for information. Thus, Luo Wen learned of this incident only by overhearing idle chatter among Troi diplomats.

Although the Daqi civilization was relatively insignificant compared to Troi, the latter seemed to pay particular attention to them—perhaps due to a grudge.

Luo Wen wasn’t too worried about the strength of the Daqi civilization. However, they had been part of the Confederation for millennia and had joined various internal organizations. Meanwhile, the Swarm was still in the negotiation phase, technically not a member of the Confederation, and therefore not protected by its internal rules.

Even within the Confederation, wars between civilizations were not uncommon, provided there was a plausible excuse. The key difference was that such conflicts were internal disputes, with the intensity of warfare kept within controlled limits.

As an “outsider,” however, the Swarm didn’t enjoy these protections. Luo Wen worried that a conflict might escalate uncontrollably, with stronger allies joining the fray, turning a minor skirmish into a full-blown war.

Coupled with the ongoing negotiations in the Genesis System, Luo Wen suspected this might be a coordinated “good cop, bad cop” strategy to pressure the Swarm into accepting harsh terms.

Fortunately, the situation didn’t devolve into the worst-case scenario. Unable to contain themselves, the Daqi civilization did amass their forces and launched a campaign to save face.

Now, the Daqi civilization had assembled a fleet of 50,000 warships, advancing menacingly toward the outer rim of the Riken System.

These 50,000 warships represented nearly the entirety of Daqi’s available military strength. Their overwhelming momentum was apparent, but the Swarm’s presence in the Riken System was not what it had been six decades ago. The Daqi had delayed far too long, and the Swarm’s deployments in the Riken System had grown vastly stronger.

More than a million Primordial bodies rose to meet them. Their sheer numbers were so immense that they blanketed the void of space like an overwhelming tide. And this was merely a fraction of the Swarm’s forces in the Riken System.

In the end, after a brief probing skirmish, the Daqi warships, despite comparable technology and a stark size disparity between individual units, were utterly outnumbered. With casualties amounting to half their fleet, they retreated in defeat, tails between their legs.

Although the Daqi civilization lost face once again, at least their fleet suffered minimal losses, preserving their core assets.

This war, despite the Swarm intentionally holding back, revealed certain truths that could no longer be concealed—like the brightest star in the night sky, some things are impossible to hide.

The Swarm’s unparalleled capacity for rapid military production became glaringly obvious to all. Sixty years ago, a fleet of just over 2,000 Daqi warships had inflicted heavy casualties on the Swarm’s forces in the Riken System. Yet now, the Swarm had effortlessly repelled a 50,000-strong fleet.

This disparity was noteworthy enough, but the true issue lay elsewhere: despite mobilizing such a massive force, the Primordial bodies basking in the stellar near-orbit of the Riken System seemed untouched. This observation raised serious concerns.

The Primordial bodies of the Swarm had always been there. Even though some were deliberately hidden, many remained visible. They were exposed to observation all along but appeared to have been consciously overlooked—until this war, which had been decades in the making yet ended in an instant, jolted many to their senses.

However, Luo Wen did not face stronger adversaries or coordinated attacks in the aftermath. Instead, changes began unfolding at A11 in the Genesis System. The pace of negotiations suddenly accelerated. Just two years after the war, several new Ji members arrived at the A11 Swarm base aboard a warship styled like a “Treasure Starship.”

These new Ji members replaced the original five-member group, and Froede reappeared as well. The agreement reverted to the draft originally proposed by Bular, and their attitude was a stark contrast to their earlier stance. Their intentions to expedite negotiations were unmistakable, and the situation seemed to return to normalcy.

“Overlord, what are you worried about?” Sarah appeared behind Luo Wen, her voice soft.

“Have we calculated the speed of the Ji’s ship?” Luo Wen ignored Sarah’s question and directed his inquiry to Morgan.

“It’s done. Approximately six times the speed of light. Since they only had a single warship with a small profile, by the time we detected them, they were already close to our territory. It’s unclear whether they decelerated earlier,” Morgan replied.

Luo Wen nodded. Fortunately, the technological gap wasn’t insurmountable, though it would take time to catch up. And right now, time was what the Swarm needed most.

However, the current state of affairs felt even more surreal than before, leaving Luo Wen somewhat baffled.

“Why do you think they want to speed up the negotiations?” Luo Wen murmured, seemingly to himself. Without waiting for Morgan or the other intelligent entities to respond, he continued, “It’s definitely related to the Riken Systems campaign. But what is their ultimate goal?”

Luo Wen rewound the timeline and began piecing things together from the start.

He couldn’t discern who was orchestrating this game or how many factions were involved, but one thing was certain—the Swarm was a pawn in their strategy.

After the Daqi civilization’s Third Prince retreated in defeat, the Troi civilization immediately stepped in before Daqi could launch a counterattack. What was the meaning of this? Luo Wen scratched his head, and then a sudden flash of insight struck him.

That was it. The opposing factions likely had no idea that the Swarm possessed both the Swarm Network and the ability to convert intelligent entities. Although the Swarm had captured numerous Daqi individuals, the other side couldn’t be sure what those captives knew or what they might reveal.

In essence, Bular’s purpose was to “educate” the Swarm about the Interstellar Technological Confederation. Though he himself was undoubtedly unaware of this role, his mission to discuss the Swarm’s membership inevitably involved disclosing critical information.

What exactly had Bular said back then? Luo Wen began to recall and retrieved fragments of the scene from that time. Because Luo Wen had already learned about the Confederation and the Ji’s origins beforehand, he hadn’t paid much attention to the specifics of Bular’s explanations.

Looking back now, it was clear he had overlooked some details. Fortunately, Danton, who had been responsible for negotiations at the time, was unaware of this intelligence and inadvertently avoided potential pitfalls. Otherwise, Bular might have noticed inconsistencies and become suspicious.

Pretending not to know something and genuinely not knowing it were entirely different, Luo Wen reflected. This time, luck had been on his side, but it wouldn’t always be. He resolved to pay closer attention to the details moving forward.

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