I Am The Swarm

Within the Interstellar Technological Confederation, the blockade on upward mobility imposed by the Ji race and the inner-ring civilizations had led to many long-standing civilizations developing certain mental issues.

For example, the universally unpleasant personalities of the Rashudia race, or the peculiar mindset of the Daibo civilization.

In fact, the Daibo civilization’s way of thinking was quite common within the Interstellar Technological Confederation. Many civilizations, upon realizing they couldn’t control their own destiny on a macro level, gave up striving and instead chose to focus on controlling their individual fates.

Some individuals within these civilizations chose to immerse themselves in virtual reality games, creating new homes in digital worlds where they could dictate their own destinies.

Others chose to explore the unknown, venturing into the outer reaches of the galaxy. However, due to the high rate of disappearance, this had been banned by most civilizations.

Some individuals opted for exploration within the confederation itself. After all, the Interstellar Technological Confederation consisted of over two hundred races controlling tens of thousands of star systems. Exploring all of them was impossible in a short time frame, and even with cryogenic sleep, most individuals wouldn’t complete this feat within their lifetimes.

However, this activity was encouraged by various civilizations due to its relative safety, as help could be sought from local civilizations within the confederation in case of trouble.

Then there were those who neither liked virtual worlds nor enjoyed wandering. They preferred conducting research—not to advance their civilization, but as a personal hobby.

Some studied sculpture, others culinary arts, some researched methods of hunting fish or beasts, while others enjoyed creating small gadgets.

Of course, their figurines were far more hardcore. Within their capabilities, they strived to implement many functions, aiming for high fidelity. Many of their exported products were high-end figurines, earning unanimous praise from members of the Interstellar Technological Confederation.

When the Swarm first demonstrated their close-combat abilities, a small group of experts within the Interstellar Technological Confederation suggested that the best way to counter this was to develop highly agile mecha warriors.

Thus, many civilizations began researching these flashy but impractical machines that had only appeared in anime and movies.

The Daibo civilization saw this and thought, “Isn’t this just a large-scale figurine?” This was their specialty, so they threw themselves into mecha development.

However, support for this idea waned over time. People realized that close-range energy weapons were more effective against Swarm units. After all, no matter how agile the Swarm’s combat units were, they couldn’t outpace the speed of light.

That said, close-range energy weapons also had limited practical value in the past. The Confederation forces currently on the front lines had departed many years ago, so even if their home civilizations had developed such weapons, these older ships weren’t equipped with them.

But the Daibo civilization had a strong foundation in figurine production. They had previously created many large mecha with impressive fidelity and performance.

When their fleet set out, they had rushed to produce a batch, hoping to showcase their prowess on the battlefield. They planned to film the action and make a movie to show their people back home.

Seeing their creations dominate on the battlefield would surely satisfy the Daibo race’s peculiar quirks.

Therefore, when an foreign race member suggested letting some Swarm combat units through for close combat, the Daibo representative became ecstatic. They had thought there might be no chance to deploy their mecha in such a battlefield, but the Swarm was surprisingly cooperative.

The Primordial Bodies curled into balls, their soft structures allowing them to do so easily. Their upgraded biological armor enabled them to withstand minor impacts even at extreme speeds.

But in the current battlefield, the Confederation forces’ space was littered with floating ship wreckage. Colliding with these would almost certainly result in a messy explosion.

Before that could happen, however, they had to survive the Confederation forces’ barrage. In their curled-up state, the Primordial Bodies had limited mobility. To move, they had to unfurl, which would reduce their speed and make them larger targets.

Even curled up, their size was still enormous, and their trajectory was easy to calculate.

Although tens of thousands of Primordial Bodies were launched in a single wave, against the sheer number of Confederation ships, they didn’t even need to divert much firepower to annihilate them.

However, thanks to the Confederation forces’ deliberate leniency, a small fraction of the Primordial Bodies made it through the barrage. Normally, even if they passed the main cannon fire zone, numerous secondary cannons would be waiting for them.

But following the earlier discussion about not discouraging the Swarm’s commander from continuing this troop-dumping behavior, the secondary cannons only fired a few symbolic shots before ceasing fire. Even those few shots were wildly inaccurate—had they been even slightly on target, the Primordial Bodies wouldn’t have reached the wreckage zone.

“Was our acting too obvious? Would the Swarm commander really fall for this?”

“The performance was overdone. Even the worst outer-ring civilizations wouldn’t have such poor aim.”

“Exactly. The Swarm has fought us multiple times. They’d definitely notice we’re going easy on them.”

“Relax. If the Swarm’s current commander really has a brain-dead style, he probably won’t stop.”

The Swarm didn’t disappoint the Confederation forces. As the remnants of the first wave of Primordial-class “projectiles” reached the wreckage zone, the second wave was already on the catapult channels.

“Just as expected…”

“Thank goodness…”

“Unbelievable…”

The Swarm’s actions once again left the Confederation forces in awe. Some even suggested that after the battle, they should find a way to let this Swarm commander return to his side. With him in charge, the Confederation forces could avoid many losses.

However, they were soon dumbfounded. Apart from the Swarm’s royal court, the confederation had never seen a real Swarm member. Without knowing where the Swarm commander was hiding, they couldn’t even figure out where to go easy on him.

In the end, they could only silently pray for the commander’s good fortune, hoping he wouldn’t be hit by stray fire. The Daibo civilization was particularly sincere, as only a handful of the first wave of Primordial Bodies remained, clearly unable to break through the defense zone.

Only if the Swarm continued launching Primordial Bodies could they potentially clear the wreckage zone and reach the Confederation forces’ positions. But if the Swarm stopped, the long-awaited opportunity to showcase their mecha would be lost once again.