I Am The Swarm-Chapter 522: The Push

The Swarm and the Interstellar Technological Confederation continued to amass forces along the front lines, but the Swarm showed no signs of launching an attack, leaving the Confederation puzzled.

The representative from the Locke Mutual Aid Society, who had a deep understanding of the Swarm, had recently fallen ill and, after a few days of rest, became somewhat reticent. According to him, the Swarm’s current inactivity made it difficult to analyze their intentions.

This explanation was reasonable and left no room for criticism. After all, if no one else could figure out the Swarm’s plans, it would be strange if he could.

However, the Confederation wasn’t overly concerned about the stalemate. The longer the delay, the more reinforcements they could gather. Moreover, the number of advanced civilizations joining their ranks would only increase over time.

If this dragged on for a few more years, the Swarm might even be pushed back to their starting point in one decisive blow.

As for the Swarm, they weren’t particularly concerned about whether to attack or not. The territories of the Interstellar Technological Confederation were tough to conquer and would only disperse their forces. On the other side of the Swarm’s territory, beyond the outer rim, lay countless unclaimed star systems waiting to be occupied.

While the Swarm had only captured a little over twenty star systems in the Confederation’s territory, their overall domain in this region of the galaxy already approached two hundred star systems, thanks to the efforts of the Seed Plan in previous years.

Moreover, this was just one branch of the Swarm. Since Luo Wen mastered long-distance fold-crossing technology, he had deployed anchor units over twenty times, successfully establishing more than ten new colonies.

Given enough time, each of these colonies could grow to the size of the Swarm in the Genesis System.

Thus, Luo Wen’s current mindset was simple: he wasn’t interested in the Confederation’s resources; he just wanted to fight. But such a pure motive was hard for others to believe. It was no wonder, then, that the Confederation couldn’t decipher the Swarm’s intentions.

By the 55th year of the New Era, the two sides had been in a standoff for over five years. Apart from minor skirmishes between reconnaissance units, there had been little activity, yet the forces amassed along the front lines continued to grow.

On the Confederation’s side, the coalition now included 91 races, nearly half of all the Confederation’s members. On the Swarm’s side, the brightness of the stars in the systems adjacent to the front lines had decreased by several percentage points.

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“It seems the Swarm has no intention of attacking.”

“What are your thoughts?”

“I think the time is ripe. We should take the initiative and strike. If we delay any longer, more and more factions will come to share the spoils.”

“If you want to go, go ahead. I’d rather have more people share the spoils than risk being the one who paves the way for others.” This representative’s concerns were not unfounded. After being reminded by Viller and setting aside their prejudices, many races had come to recognize the Swarm’s combat prowess.

According to the latest intelligence, the Swarm had amassed over three billion troops along the border.

Due to the influence of the Ji race, the technological development of the civilizations in the Interstellar Technological Confederation was highly homogenized. Thus, mid-rim civilizations, compared to outer-rim ones, mostly only had faster ships, more powerful weapons, and greater firing rates and ranges.

Without a qualitative leap in technology, they would suffer significant losses trying to take on the Swarm’s three billion troops.

Many of these races were located far from the Swarm’s territory, requiring decades of travel to reach the front lines. Sending troops here was no easy task. If they suffered heavy losses due to a misstep, and if the spoils were distributed based on military contributions, that would be fine. But if the spoils were too large and internal conflicts broke out, without sufficient forces, their survival would be at risk.

Therefore, it was prudent to wait until all participants had arrived before launching an attack.

“Hmph, I understand your reasoning. But some factions may take a hundred years to get here. Are you willing to wait that long?”

“A hundred years is fine. In that time, my race’s forces here will have multiplied several times over. It’s a no-lose situation.”

“But in a hundred years, their reinforcements will also keep coming. By your logic, there will always be someone waiting in the wings, and this war will never start.”

“Say what you will, I’m in no hurry. If we drag this out, someone will eventually step up to take charge. I don’t believe the Ji race will stay out of this forever.”

“If we wait for the Ji race to intervene, you’ll only get scraps.”

“Scraps are fine. I’m just worried I won’t even get that.”

“Hmph, you’re so afraid of wolves and tigers, cowering like a dog. I’m ashamed to be associated with you.”

“…”

Although many representatives advocated caution, as time passed, more and more began to support taking the initiative. A new perspective had quietly emerged: by striking early, even if they didn’t get the lion’s share, they might at least learn what the prize was. But if they waited for the inner-rim civilizations and the New Ji race to step in, they might not even get a glimpse of the prize.

Every race and civilization with even a hint of ambition would not allow themselves to remain in the dark, manipulated by others. Even if they couldn’t obtain the prize, they needed to know what it was, as this knowledge could be crucial for future opportunities.

Another reason for their urgency was the latest intelligence from reconnaissance units. While the Swarm’s expansion on this front had stalled, on the other side, there were no such constraints.

While everyone seemed to be idling, the Swarm was actually maintaining a rapid pace of expansion and development. This discovery made many races feel rather foolish.

By the 58th year of the New Era, the coalition forces along the front lines had also reached nearly three billion, including a significant number of mid-rim civilization fleets with technology far superior to what the Swarm had previously demonstrated.

Thus, the coalition began to mobilize.

Since there was no single civilization in the coalition capable of dominating all the others, the command structure was even more chaotic than that of the Koya Alliance and the Locke Mutual Aid Society. However, the coalition representatives were well aware of this. Instead of forcing all races to integrate, they divided the front into sectors, assigning tasks to individual races or small groups and signing mutual aid agreements.

After some reorganization, in the 60th year of the New Era, the coalition fleet set out from more than a dozen star systems, advancing toward Swarm territory in a full-scale push!

Three billion ships of various types set out together, creating a spectacular sight. They were spread across a front nearly fifty light-years long. For a civilization like the Moto, it would take over twenty years for their ships to travel from one end of the front to the other.

This scale of warfare was perhaps the largest in the history of the Interstellar Technological Confederation.

Thus, all participants were filled with excitement. They eagerly awaited the moment the battle would begin, knowing they were making history.