I Am The Swarm

As Mowei had pointed out, thanks to the positioning of this battlefield, the Swarm forces were backed by their home base. While this shortened their supply lines, it also restricted their maneuverability. Given the sheer size of the forces on both sides, they could even obliterate entire planets. Any fixed defenses on those planets would have little impact on the overall course of the battle.

The Ketou Civilization representative nodded in agreement with Mowei’s assessment, but he still felt an underlying sense of unease. The aggressive strategy meant launching a full-scale attack. While it was true that the Swarm had no room to maneuver, their terrifying numbers—exceeding 1.5 billion—and their more advanced energy and combat systems meant that even a direct firefight would result in unimaginable casualties for the attackers.

As one of the races on the front lines, the Ketou Civilization would inevitably bear the brunt of these losses. If they engaged the Swarm head-on, they might end up worse than the Yuntu Race, who were now being quietly mocked, or even face complete annihilation like the Sangqie Race had.

This was not what the Ketou Civilization wanted—it was completely different from their initial expectations. The representative did not want to choose this path. He wanted to hear Mowei’s alternative, more cautious approach. If the consequences of that option were even worse, then they would have no choice but to go all in.

“So, what is the other option?”

“The other option is simple—withdraw from the battlefield. Even the Swarm likely does not want a mutually destructive war, so they probably won’t pursue. Of course, some price will have to be paid during the retreat.”

“Mowei, retreating is not a viable option. We’ve already wasted too much time here. Our earlier sub-light speed march was already heavily criticized.” General Mid of the Yuntu Race couldn’t resist speaking up, despite not wanting to engage Mowei. Among those present, he was one of the most staunch pro-war advocates, eager to see the Swarm utterly destroyed.

“General Mid, I believe that your race—having already withdrawn from the war—has no right to dictate what happens here.” Mowei retorted sharply. His words were met with silent approval from several races, led by the Ketou Civilization.

The Yuntu Race had already been wiped from the order of battle, making Mid’s stance hypocritical. Even if they wanted to send troops back into battle, it would take them decades to do so. They had no immediate stake in the upcoming battles, unlike the current frontline races who were reluctant to suffer heavy losses. Fighting a one-sided war was one thing, but engaging in a brutal, drawn-out struggle was another—they instinctively sought a way out.

However, he wasn’t entirely wrong. Mowei had arrived at the front lines with only a small detachment, while the main force of his race was nowhere to be seen.

Mowei, unfazed by the accusation, rubbed his chin thoughtfully before responding. “Patience, my dear Mid. That brings me to my next point. No matter how powerful the Swarm is, they are fighting alone—they have no allies to support them. Meanwhile, we have an endless supply of reinforcements.”

“I believe the safest approach is for the Ketou Civilization and other engaged races to temporarily withdraw and wait for more reinforcements to arrive. Here, take a look at this report.”

As he spoke, Mowei projected a set of data onto the public screen. A section of star territory was marked with red dots.

“This is intelligence I obtained from the New Ji Race. According to reconnaissance data, the Swarm currently occupies over 262 star systems, and in 182 of them, there are signs of active troop movements.”

The gathered representatives stirred with surprise. Mowei truly lived up to his powerful background—this was the most detailed and accurate intelligence they had seen so far.

“How the hell did he get his hands on this intel?” One foreign representative whispered to a companion. Their own intelligence reports were far less precise.

“I heard he got chummy with Elder Humes from the New Ji Race by sharing tips on using Swarm bio-armor.”

“Damn it! Lucky bastard! Why don’t I have a set of Swarm bio-armor?”

“Relax, once we defeat the Swarm, we might be able to loot some. We’re on the front lines—there’s no way we’ll walk away empty-handed.”

“Good point. But the Swarm deploying from this many star systems? Our forces here seem insufficient.”

“Exactly! The troops we have here are everything our race has. If we lose them, I’ll become the greatest sinner in our entire history.”

“Agreed.”

Mowei clapped his hands, interrupting the murmurs.

“Alright, gentlemen, no need to panic. Although the Swarm controls a vast territory, this also means longer travel times. While many of their systems are mobilizing forces, only about twenty of them will be able to reach the front lines within the next ten years.”

“Furthermore, most of these twenty systems are newly occupied, with underdeveloped infrastructure. They cannot provide a significant number of new troops. The Swarm armies that initially conquered these regions have already gathered here, meaning that in reality, for the next ten years, the Swarm has very few reinforcements coming.”

“Based on my estimates, their current force of 1.5 billion will, at most, increase to 2.5 billion.”

“On the other hand, we will gain far more reinforcements than that. To give you an example—our Rashudia Fleet will arrive in seven years. Our expeditionary force alone has one hundred million conventional warships.”

The room erupted into hushed discussions once again.

The Rashudia Race was one of the oldest mid-ring civilizations, positioned on the border between the mid and inner circle. Their homeworld and most of their territory were classified as mid-ring, which was why they were still officially considered a mid-ring civilization. However, in actuality, they were far stronger than the lower-tier mid-ring civilizations. Even the Yuntu Race couldn’t compare.

Due to the secrecy of warp travel, only a handful of races knew the exact size and location of the Rashudia Fleet. Now that Mowei had revealed this information, the representatives realized that this powerful reinforcement was imminent.

The room buzzed with anticipation. A fleet of one hundred million powerful warships—perhaps even the Rashudia Race alone could wipe out the Swarm forces at the front lines.

“Respected gentlemen, launching a war now, in my opinion, carries significant risks. Instead, it would be better to wait for more allies to join us, and then conquer the Swarm with an invincible force.”