I Am The Swarm

A New Era!

Year One!

This was the year Luo Wen flipped the table, the year the Swarm dispatched forces to launch an aggressive attack on the Riken Star System and the Interstellar Technological Confederation. It was the year the Swarm broke its dormancy and shifted its strategic thinking—a year marking the start of an epic war.

To commemorate this event and to provide a meaningful and auspicious beginning for the new era, Luo Wen decided to separate it from the past. From this moment on, it would be the start of a new era.

And this year was designated as Year One.

In the first year of the new era, the Swarm dispatched 100 million Primordial bodies to the Riken Star System.

At the end of Year Two, the swarm of Primordial bodies reached the Riken Star System, leading to the surrender of the Riken people, and the Swarm regained control of the region.

Back when the Rikens and Rat Folk joined the Interstellar Technological Confederation, the Swarm had withdrawn all its overt forces to the Neighboring Star System. This Neighboring Star System was the second star system controlled by the Swarm, with the Riken Star System being the third.

The military units produced in the first, second, and third star systems were concentrated together. One can imagine how vast the Swarm’s combat forces in the Neighboring Star System truly were.

The blue luminescent spots scattered across the Primordial bodies made them look both mysterious and beautiful. They orderly departed from the Solar Orbital Swarm Base near the star, forming a dazzling blue light trail in space, resembling a small galaxy—magnificent and awe-inspiring.

After moving a certain distance from the star, the warp bubbles enveloped them, propelling them toward the Riken Star System.

Although the Interstellar Technological Confederation lacked precise data on the Swarm’s reinforcement numbers, calculations from various data sources allowed them to derive an almost accurate figure.

“Over 1 billion 500-meter-class Space Octopuses?”

“My god, how can there be so many?”

“According to intelligence, this number doesn’t even account for two-tenths of the Swarm’s forces stationed in the Neighboring Star System.”

“Hiss~ While we already had a rough estimate of their numbers when the Swarm withdrew from the Neighboring Star System, I never imagined it could be this massive!”

“This is going to be a real headache.”

The sheer number of Swarm combat units exceeded everyone’s imagination. It was no wonder the Interstellar Technological Confederation was so shocked. To put it into perspective, the Koya Alliance had been mobilizing for so long and only managed to assemble a fleet of 10 million ships. Compared to the Swarm’s 1 billion-unit force, it was utterly insignificant. ŗáＮՕ𝐛ÊṨ

After all, the Swarm’s cost of producing units was incredibly low. Over the years, countless half-meter-long Space Octopus larvae had grown into Primordial bodies.

Furthermore, the Swarm was no longer just about numbers; their quality had reached the upper-middle levels within the Outer-ring territories. The three-light-year deployment speed created an overwhelming sense of crisis for all alien civilizations.

Particularly for the Koya Alliance, which had twice leveraged diplomatic maneuvers against the Swarm and initiated proposals forcing the Swarm to make concessions. At this moment, they felt a deep chill.

Since the Swarm dared to blatantly tear up the alliance treaties, attacking and occupying the Riken Star System, it would have no qualms about continuing its assaults on the Koya Alliance.

While they still firmly believed the Interstellar Technological Confederation would eventually secure victory, that might take hundreds or even thousands of years. The Swarm’s immediate threat, however, was already at their doorstep.

Before the Swarm could be suppressed, the Koya Alliance had to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

The Koya Alliance urgently convened several meetings.

“I opposed taking the lead in this matter from the beginning. Why provoke the Swarm? Who exactly is selling out our alliance’s interests?”

“Exactly! When the pressure was put on the Rikens, our race wasn’t involved.”

“Rubbish! You weren’t involved because you were too far away and couldn’t make it in time! And as for the rest of you, the action was approved in the meetings. You may not have supported it outright, but you didn’t explicitly oppose it either. And now you’re dredging up old grievances? You don’t seem to have any complaints about the benefits you’ve already reaped.”

“Yeah, no one here is clean. Go ahead and ask the Swarm—when they attack, do you think they’ll spare any of you?”

“…”

The meeting unfolded in a “harmonious” atmosphere and continued until its conclusion. Although many factions hurled accusations at one another—especially the Daqi race, who were thoroughly lambasted as the instigators—everyone understood one thing: the Swarm would not spare them.

Nevertheless, the meeting yielded some results.

Within the Koya Alliance, every faction entered the highest state of war readiness. Citizens meeting specific criteria were forcibly conscripted, and virtually all resources were redirected to military efforts.

Massive space factories were constructed and assembled, asteroids lined up to be dismantled at designated sites, and warships were built one after another. Alongside them, waves of green recruits were sent to the front lines.

Under its previous peacetime military posture, the Koya Alliance had maintained a fleet of approximately 100 million warships. This number was sufficient to safeguard its territory, combat piracy, and handle most emergencies. After all, an excessively large fleet would place an immense maintenance burden on the member races.

But now, such concerns no longer mattered. The Alliance faced a life-or-death crisis for their entire member civilizations. Any excess resources left behind would only fall into the hands of the enemy if they failed to hold the line.

As such, by exhausting their reserves and sparing no expense, the Koya Alliance estimated that within 50 years, they could expand their fleet tenfold—or even more.

Although their warships were not as advanced as those of the Ji race, they still ranged between 2,000 to 3,000 meters in length, making their individual combat capabilities far superior to the 500-meter-class Space Octopuses of the Swarm.

Furthermore, the Alliance held the defensive advantage, occupying naturally favorable positions. Perhaps they needed only half—or even less—of the Swarm’s forces to repel the attack.

But this would take time. Until then, they could only accelerate the deployment of their existing forces to the front lines and pray the Swarm would not attack. As for the security of their internal territories? In such a monumental conflict, any pirate or rogue faction foolish enough to take advantage of the chaos would be courting death.

Pirates weren’t fools. At times like this, they kept their heads down. Not only would they avoid taking advantage of the situation, but they would also steer well clear. With so many major factions gathering forces in the region, any pirates unlucky enough to cross paths with an Outer-ring or even Inner-circle powerhouse might find themselves conscripted and sent to the front lines—a surefire one-way ticket.@@novelbin@@

By Year Eight of the New Era, the Swarm, having occupied the Riken Star System and remained dormant for several years, finally made a move.

The Swarm assembled a 200 million-strong Primordial body cluster and set out from the Riken Star System. The cluster effortlessly tore through the interference network surrounding the system. The Swarm’s radar systems resumed operation, rapidly updating their data. They even paused briefly to replot their navigation routes.

Afterward, the Primordial cluster sped northwest from the Riken Star System, heading toward its next target.