I Am The Swarm

“Stop them!” Compared to energy cannon fire, the Primordial Body projectiles launched by electromagnetic rails were slower, but still much faster than those relying solely on their own propulsion modules.

Moreover, their threat level was dozens of times higher than that of energy cannon fire. The Yuntu Race had to concentrate their firepower to eliminate them.

However, the electromagnetic rail launchers, operating in rapid-fire mode, managed to unleash a barrage of over a hundred thousand Primordial Body projectiles in a short time, despite their limited numbers. This created a momentum akin to a full-scale army charge.

The sudden appearance of these Primordial Body projectiles disrupted the Yuntu Race’s defensive rhythm. Their high speed required extensive calculations to intercept, and since these projectiles were living entities, they could slightly alter their trajectory mid-flight. In the precision-demanding environment of space combat, even a minor miscalculation could lead to catastrophic failure. The Yuntu Race had to expend a significant amount of firepower to perform area saturation attacks to take them down.

But the Yuntu Race wasn’t just dealing with these Primordial Body projectiles. The diversion of firepower created gaps in their defense, which had already been barely holding back the Swarm’s encirclement through the self-destruction of unmanned drones.

Some Primordial Body projectiles took advantage of the weakened firepower to rapidly advance, forcing the Yuntu Race to redistribute their firepower to suppress them. However, the number of firepower output positions was limited, and the Yuntu Race found themselves in a situation where they were constantly torn between conflicting priorities.

“Deploy all unmanned drones! Maintain fleet formation and focus on breaking through to the northwest!” The Yuntu fleet commander clearly understood that if any part of their defense collapsed, the entire front line would fall like dominoes.

The commander knew that continuing to hold their current position would only delay the inevitable Swarm breakthrough. The newly appeared electromagnetic launch platforms had disrupted the previously tenuous balance.

Now, he had to change tactics to seek a chance of survival.

Considering the Swarm’s unparalleled stealth technology, it was easy to guess why that gap existed. On the other hand, the northwest direction, which seemed tightly closed, was actually no different from the other sectors of the encirclement.

The commander had randomly chosen this direction for the breakout, precisely because it was the least expected. Even he had only just made the decision, so the Swarm couldn’t have prepared for it in advance.

The Yuntu fleet’s thrusters, which had been idling, now roared to life, spewing hundreds of meters of energy streams. The ships began to accelerate, adjusting their course slightly before advancing.

At the same time, countless unmanned drones poured out of the ship hangars. Unlike the hastily assembled fleets of the Locke Mutual Aid Society, the Yuntu fleet had set out with full complements, each ship carrying three thousand unmanned drones.

With a total of fifty million ships, the release of all unmanned drones created a scene that could only be described as overwhelming.

The glow from the ships’ thrusters was as bright as the sun, while the countless drones’ lights resembled stars, dotting the sky around them. The night sky seemed to gain a new galaxy, both magnificent and beautiful.

“Your Majesty, they’re going all out!” The Blades, who had been closely monitoring the entire battle, instantly deduced the Yuntu fleet’s intentions upon seeing their movements.

Sarah frowned in thought for a moment before decisively ordering, “Tighten the encirclement! Assign all Knights to the northwest direction and have them use their most precise maneuvers to delay the enemy fleet as long as possible. Increase the offensive pressure on both flanks and cut off their formation!”

“As you command, Your Majesty!”

——

The Yuntu forces attempting to break out suddenly found that their opponents, though not increased in number, had become far more troublesome. Their formations were more agile, their coordination more seamless, and their overall presence more dynamic.

“Commander, the Swarm’s encirclement is tightening!”

“Use unmanned drones to hold the other directions! Concentrate firepower and clear a path ahead!” the Yuntu commander roared. They now had to open a gap in the Swarm’s encirclement and break through in the shortest possible time.

While this wouldn’t guarantee their escape, it would at least free them from being surrounded on all sides. Once they broke through, they could turn around and re-engage the Swarm, buying more time.

The dense barrage of dark energy main cannons began to focus on the path ahead. Although the Primordial Body projectiles, controlled by the Knights, were more adept in fine maneuvers, their fundamental parameters remained unchanged. Faced with such overwhelming saturation fire that left no room for error, even Luo Wen himself would have struggled to find a solution.

On the other fronts, despite the billions of unmanned drones holding the line, the lack of support from the main ship cannons meant that these units, which could only delay the Swarm’s advance through self-destruction, were rapidly dwindling in number.

Large numbers of Mature bodies and Larval bodies were thrown out by the Primordial Body projectiles, followed by even more Spider Combat Bugs. These Spider Combat Bugs were the bane of the Yuntu’s unmanned drones; once attached, the drones had no choice but to self-destruct prematurely.

Moreover, facing the Swarm’s long-range attacks, the Yuntu fleet’s formation changes were sluggish during the breakout, forcing them to actively form defensive arrays to block the incoming energy cannon fire.

But against the incoming Primordial Body projectiles, they had no effective countermeasures. The projectiles were too fast, and the unmanned drones had to calculate the precise timing to self-destruct and intercept them.

This operation was far more complex than simply using energy cannons for interception, requiring intricate calculations that forced the Yuntu Race to allocate a significant portion of their computational resources.

But in the midst of this full-scale battle, every sector required complex calculations, leading to a severe shortage of computational power. There was simply no excess capacity to support the unmanned drones.

This resulted in frequent errors on the part of the unmanned drones. Not only did their self-destruction often harm nearby allies, but they also frequently detonated too early or too late, failing to hit the Primordial Body projectiles.

The rear-line drones scrambled to intercept, with even those not carrying dark energy bombs positioning themselves in the path, hoping to use the kinetic energy of the Primordial Body projectiles to destroy them.

But the Primordial Body projectiles only needed to slightly alter their trajectory to evade the drones. By the time the drones attempted to intercept again, their own speed was no match for the projectiles.

In desperation, the drones on the subsequent defense lines expanded their shield coverage, finally managing to intercept the Primordial Body projectile at the last moment.