I Am The Swarm

Although the Observer Bugs were equipped with various advanced sensory organs, their small size ultimately limited their performance. When the fleet approached from the front flank, the Observer Bug failed to detect it. However, as the fleet passed by, the glaring blue glow of their engines became unmistakable. Upon noticing the anomaly, the Observer Bug immediately issued an alert.

Subsequently, the Observer Bugs stationed ahead of the fleet shifted their focus, locking their gaze on the incoming ships and maintaining continuous surveillance.

Yet, Luo Wen, who was monitoring all of this through the bugs’ visual feed, found himself filled with questions.

What is this?

A massive fleet.

It was coming from the direction of the M37 Star System, also known as the Riken Star System.

Have they changed leadership?

Was the Riken race overrun by another civilization?

A cascade of questions flooded Luo Wen’s mind.

As the fleet advanced, more and more Observer Bugs stationed along its route provided increasingly detailed imagery, transmitting them back through the Swarm Network.

What stood out were the insignias painted on the warships—they were identical to those on the Cat’s Ear Spaceship.

Is Reggie pulling my leg? This was Luo Wen’s first thought.

But he quickly dismissed it. Reggie would never deceive him. Could this be the result of a technological leap forward? How is this even possible? Their entire technological system has changed!

Previously reliant on solar sails for interstellar travel, they had transitioned to engine propulsion within just a century.

And the speed—how could it be so fast? Calculations by the Intelligent Entities indicated they had already achieved one-fifth the speed of light.

Is this for real?

This is cheating, isn’t it?

At this rate, in just about ten years, they would reach the Neighboring Star System.

Luo Wen observed these kilometer-long steel behemoths, bristling with dense arrays of turrets and concealed launch ports, clearly indicating overwhelming firepower.

The crucial question remained—how had they reached this level of development?

The Intelligent Entities analyzed the situation, concluding that it was impossible for the Riken to have advanced so far in just a century by gradually building their technological framework based solely on theoretical validation. The two most plausible explanations were either external assistance from an advanced civilization or the discovery of a technological inheritance from such a civilization.

If it was merely an inheritance, that was manageable. Even if the fleet was powerful, the Swarm’s inherent characteristics could level the playing field. However, if they were backed by a complete advanced civilization, Luo Wen needed to start considering how to escape without leaving a trace.

He had to carefully weigh his options before deciding on a course of action.

Twelve years flew by in the blink of an eye. The colossal Riken fleet had reached the outskirts of the Neighboring Star System.

Over the past week, all personnel aboard the ships had been gradually awakened from stasis.

“Commander, what are our next steps?”

Standing before the starmap was a male Riken, tall and robust, in the prime of his life. His determined blue face bore an air of steely resolve. Even without combat armor, his figure towered at 2.5 meters tall. With his armor on, he would likely stand at an imposing 2.8 meters.

He was none other than General Masai, the supreme commander of this expedition.

“Order the fleet into a dispersed formation, with transport ships in the center and warships on the periphery. Stay alert—we still don’t know the exact strength of the alien forces here. If you want to make it back alive, stay sharp. Also, notify all ship captains of a video conference in ten minutes.”

“Yes, General.”

Ten minutes later.

“General, I believe we should proceed cautiously under the current uncertain conditions, establishing defensive lines step by step to advance steadily,” suggested one of the more conservative female Riken captains. Her proposal was displayed on the massive 100-square-meter screen in front of General Masai, which was divided into hundreds of smaller frames for each participant.

Masai himself was no more experienced than his subordinates when it came to engaging alien forces—this was uncharted territory for them all.

This expedition would undoubtedly go down in Riken history. A well-executed campaign would cement his legacy, while failure would leave him a figure of infamy.

Thus, Masai chose to adopt a collaborative approach, gathering input to arrive at a consensus. If things went south, everyone would share the blame.

“Captain Cleo, your proposal is too conservative. We have an invincible fleet. Speed is of the essence—we should strike directly at their core and annihilate them in one decisive blow,” countered a male Riken captain, clearly an advocate of aggressive tactics.

“I second Captain Kenny,” echoed another aggressive captain.

“But do you even know where their core is? Without a target, how can you talk about striking swiftly or directly?” rebutted a rational captain, clearly neutral in stance.

“According to the last information sent back by the Cat’s Ear Spaceship, they were attacked near T855. That could be their core.”

“T855 is not a habitable planet. How could it be their core? I’ve analyzed the situation thoroughly—they must have been hiding on T853 and tailed the Cat’s Ear Ship after it departed.”

“That’s possible, but T855 is currently on the far side of the star. Reaching it would require a large detour. Moreover, space is vast—it’s not impossible for species to survive directly in space.”

“Such creatures can’t possibly exist, can they?”

“Why not?”

As two captains were about to argue, General Masai cleared his throat, interrupting the escalating debate. “Our mission is not just to strike at aliens but to completely occupy this region. Establishing a base and launching a direct attack on their core are not mutually exclusive.”

Glancing at the starmap, he continued, “Currently, both T854 and T853 are on our route. We can first establish a temporary base on T854 and then deploy forces to scout T853.”

“You’re right, General…”

“A brilliant compromise, General Masai, as expected of you.”

After a round of sycophantic remarks, the plan was approved unanimously.

Thanks to their advanced technology, even after decelerating upon entering the star system, the fleet’s speed could be ramped up again within moments. Reaching T854 from the system’s edge took only a little over ten days.

The Riken had placed immense importance on this expedition. A failure would leave their civilization unable to mount another mission of this scale for a long time.

Thus, their preparations were meticulous. The transport ships carried numerous modular components.

Large metal parts were hauled from the transport ships by small engineering vessels, assembled into massive space factories in T854’s orbit.

On the planet’s surface, engineering machinery and soldiers were deployed for reconnaissance and to establish excavation sites and factories.

These factories were fully automated, operated by intelligent programs. The materials extracted by the engineering equipment were refined into basic components and transported to orbital shipyards.

They even planned to construct additional warships here to bolster their forces.

Some factories also produced metal components, primarily replacement parts for their weapons.

With logistics in place, two warships broke away from the fleet to head toward T853—Great Dawn Planet. Their mission was to deploy a vast array of satellites in T853’s geosynchronous orbit.

Additionally, numerous unmanned reconnaissance drones would be sent to the planet’s surface for close-range exploration.

A few days later, they arrived at T853’s geosynchronous orbit.

“Look, what’s that?”

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