I Am The Swarm

As the battle situation rapidly deteriorated, the Daibo Civilization had no choice but to intensify their interception efforts. The main and secondary cannons, which had previously been underutilized, now fired at full capacity.

With the remote firepower tightened, the number of Primordial Body projectiles breaking through the barrier drastically decreased. The Space Octopuses in the enemy formation, now without reinforcements, and with the Daibo Civilization even deploying unmanned fighter drones to assist, allowed the mech pilots to gradually stabilize the situation.

However, the Daibo Civilization’s actions drew dissatisfaction from other members of the Confederation.

“Daibo, what are you doing?”

“Yeah, aren’t you basically telling the Swarm that we’ve been slacking off before? If they stop sending troops, how much more damage will that cause us?”

“Exactly. The Swarm sends tens of thousands of troops every five minutes for free. While it’s just a drop in the bucket for them, it adds up over time. This is free merit for us.”

“At this rate, if they keep sending troops for ten days to half a month, the balance will shift in our favor, and we’ll establish an advantage even faster.”

The command channel was filled with voices criticizing the Daibo Civilization. The Daibo Civilization itself also felt that their actions were somewhat improper, but they couldn’t just sit back and take the criticism.

“Isn’t this all to help the Confederation find a way to deal with the Swarm’s close combat? Their close combat is so strong that once they get close, our only option is a suicide attack. Our mech testing benefits the entire Confederation,” argued the Daibo commander, trying to take the moral high ground.

Moreover, while it was one thing for a powerful mid-ring civilization like the Rashudia Race to criticize, even the small outer-ring civilizations were chiming in. The Daibo commander felt he had to assert their position from a standpoint of strength.

However, the Daibo representative’s words didn’t carry much weight. As soon as he finished speaking, sarcastic voices immediately filled the communication channel.

“Some people insisted on playing with toys and engaging the Swarm in close combat. Now they’ve shot themselves in the foot and are dragging the rest of us down with them.”

“Exactly. Keep your toys at home. What are you doing bringing them to the battlefield? Do you think this is a game?”

“We didn’t ask you to go play close combat with the Swarm. You were the ones who rushed in.”

“This isn’t like when you were pounding your chests and making guarantees.”

“Humanoid mechs might have some use in certain battlefield environments, but they’re completely outclassed by the Swarm’s octopus forms.”

“Don’t be so hard on them. They’re using their own strength to show us what not to do. This kind of trial-and-error spirit is worth encouraging.”

“If you put it that way, I guess there’s some truth to it. I have nothing more to say.”

“…”

The Daibo Civilization’s initial attempt to assert themselves had some effect, but with the Rashudia Race leading the charge, the others quickly joined in, mocking and throwing stones.

“You!” The Daibo representative was furious, but outnumbered and outgunned, he didn’t know where to start.

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue? You keep saying it’s for the sake of the Confederation, but you haven’t shared any of the data you’ve collected.”

“Yeah, even if they’re toys, sharing the data might give us some insights.”

“Ha, maybe we can build some octopus-shaped robots.”

“Are you planning to join them if you can’t beat them?”

As the conversation continued, the Daibo Civilization began to realize that these criticisms weren’t just about their actions. The sarcastic remarks and veiled insults were aimed at obtaining exclusive data on the Swarm’s combat units.

For example, the various sizes of Space Octopuses, their maximum speed and strength, and how these metrics changed with even half a meter difference in size. This was a headache for the Confederation. The Swarm’s units, from larval bodies to mature bodies to Primordial Body, all looked similar, but that didn’t mean they were standardized.

For instance, larval bodies could range from half a meter when newly hatched to twenty meters, all still classified as larval bodies. Mature bodies had an even wider range, from twenty meters to five hundred meters. Primordial Bodies were anything over five hundred meters, with six hundred or seven hundred meters still falling under the same category.

The Swarm was nothing like the Confederation, where ships of the same class had standardized lengths, widths, heights, weapon configurations, energy systems, and engines. Mechanical civilizations prided themselves on precision engineering, with ships and fighters of the same model being nearly identical.

If a ship was supposed to be 1,000 meters long, it wouldn’t be 999 or 1,001 meters. These were precise measurements, completely unlike the Swarm’s approach.

Precision engineering and assembly lines meant that units were nearly identical, which had its advantages, such as neat arrangement and easier management. But it also made them easier to counter.

For example, if a certain armor could withstand a 500-power energy cannon, then building a 600-power cannon would guarantee penetration. Or if a fighter’s top speed was 50 kilometers per second, building one that could reach 60 kilometers per second would outmaneuver it.

But the Swarm was completely different. A half-meter larval body and a nineteen-meter larval body couldn’t possibly have the same combat capabilities. The former might be taken out by small arms fire, while the latter might be impervious to the same weapons.

Similarly, a twenty-one-meter mature body and a 499-meter mature body were worlds apart. The former could be obliterated by a single shot from a secondary cannon, while the latter could withstand multiple hits.

The biggest difference was between the 499-meter mature body and the 500-meter Primordial Body.

According to Luo Wen’s rules, only when a Space Octopus reached 500 meters could it be equipped with a Dark Energy Furnace. Despite the mere one-meter difference, the combat capabilities were worlds apart.

A 499-meter mature body could only rely on its stored energy, limiting its combat radius and duration. Its combat methods were also heavily restricted.

Most of the time, mature bodies, regardless of size, were forced into close combat. Without their own energy supply systems, even if they were equipped with dark energy cannons, they would likely drain themselves dry before firing a single shot.

But the Primordial Body, just one meter larger and equipped with a Dark Energy Furnace, could perform warp travel and conventional sub-light speed flight on its own, with a combat radius far surpassing that of mature bodies. It could also be equipped with ranged weapons, firing as many shots as it wanted without worrying about energy.

This made it incredibly difficult for the Confederation to develop weapons specifically targeting a certain size of Space Octopus. They couldn’t just pull out a ruler and measure each one. Even visual identification was challenging due to the Swarm’s soft-bodied nature, making it hard to distinguish sizes unless the difference was significant.