I Am The Swarm-Chapter 679: Introductions

“As for you, Elder of the Ji race, while I don’t know which elder you are, I’m quite familiar with the Ji elder’s ceremonial robe you’re wearing.”

After listening to Marlene’s words, Ambros nodded. “Thank you, Lady Marlene, for your generous explanation. I am deeply grateful. I hope our upcoming conversation will be just as pleasant.”

“I hope so too,” Marlene replied with a smile. However, whether it would be pleasant or not depended on how far apart the two sides’ bottom lines were. If the gap was too large, it would be difficult to maintain a pleasant atmosphere.

Next, both sides proceeded with brief introductions. The Swarm’s side was indeed brief, but the Confederation’s side…

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ambros, an elder of the Ji race and the Ji’s lead negotiator for this meeting. This is Humes, whom Lady Marlene should be quite familiar with, and this is Beladuka.”

The three Ji elders included Humes, who had long been responsible for affairs in the region of space surrounding the Swarm. As a local authority, his presence was expected. However, this also revealed that while elders held the highest status within the Ji race, there were still distinctions in power among them.

Ambros, who had managed to overshadow the local authority Humes and take the lead in this negotiation, clearly demonstrated his capabilities. Alternatively, it might have been due to Humes’ repeated failures, which had cost him significant standing in this competition.

In addition, the third Ji elder was a woman. Judging by her seating position, her status even surpassed that of Humes.

Although Ambros did not specify which race Beladuka, the female elder, hailed from, her physical characteristics made it easy for Marlene to identify her origins.

Beladuka came from a powerful race, as evidenced by the fact that nearby sat a Confederation representative with strikingly similar features—a representative from an inner-circle civilization.

“This is Prince Hafaro of the Mukarchi race…” The three Ji elders naturally held the highest status and were introduced first. Following them, Ambros introduced the Mukarchi representative, indicating that, in the eyes of the Ji, the Mukarchi were likely the most powerful among the inner-circle civilizations.

“This is from…”

“This is from…”

“This is Duke Gimarico of the Yasufit race…” Duke Gimarico, who bore a striking resemblance to the female Ji elder in appearance, suggested that Elder Beladuka had a very powerful origin race.

“This is…”

Although the introductions on the Confederation’s side were also concise—typically just the race, the individual’s name, and a title or position—the sheer number of races involved made the process lengthy. This event involved nearly half of the Confederation’s member races, making it one of the most significant incidents in the Confederation’s history over the past hundred thousand years. As a result, almost everyone had a role to play, and even the brief introductions took a considerable amount of time.

Ambros spoke slowly, and despite the time already spent, he remained calm and composed, showing no signs of impatience.

In reality, the representatives from the outer and mid-ring civilizations, though highly respected within their own races, had little opportunity to speak in this negotiation. They were essentially bystanders, and whether they were introduced or not made little difference.

However, Marlene knew that Ambros was doing this deliberately. The negotiation had already begun, and Ambros was trying to pressure her and disrupt her composure.

If she became impatient due to the lengthy introductions, she might make mistakes during the negotiation. A single poorly chosen phrase could reveal too much information, allowing the other side to probe her bottom line.

But Ambros had miscalculated. While Marlene appeared young, she had been one of the first Swarm intelligence entities converted during the era of the Ratfolk Empress Sarah. Now several hundred years old and having experienced numerous events, she was not easily unsettled by such tactics.

In fact, Marlene found the introductions quite interesting. The order in which Ambros introduced the representatives revealed the hierarchy of these civilizations in the eyes of the Ji.

Although the Swarm had infiltrated the Confederation, the time had been too short to cover all races and regions. Their understanding of many races was limited to data, and they had no concrete sense of their strength.

The Ji, as the true managers of the Confederation, had the most accurate ranking of these races, even if there were occasional discrepancies.

Moreover, the titles of the Confederation representatives provided insights into the social structures of their races. Through Ambros’ introductions, the Swarm gained a wealth of information.

Finally, the lengthy introductions concluded, and Ambros continued, “Before we proceed, we hope that your side will demonstrate humanitarianism by treating our captured personnel well. This is the foundation of our negotiation and the cornerstone for building mutual trust between us.”

“Of course. We will provide the maximum convenience and basic living conditions for those individuals,” Marlene replied with a smile. This request was not unreasonable, as the negotiation centered on the issue of prisoners. If too many prisoners were lost for any reason, it would undoubtedly affect the talks.

Moreover, the Swarm had always treated prisoners well, especially since most of the captured high-ranking officials were already “one of them.” Under these circumstances, even if the Swarm gave them free rein, the prisoners wouldn’t cause any trouble.

Marlene’s response surprised many of the Confederation representatives, particularly those who had little contact or connection with the Swarm. After all, according to Confederation propaganda, the Swarm was portrayed as brutal and lawless, almost synonymous with savagery.

However, it now appeared that the Swarm was not as difficult to communicate with as imagined. From the limited interaction so far, the Swarm could even be described as courteous and principled.

For a young race without much historical depth, maintaining such composure in the face of a powerful alliance like the Confederation was no small feat.

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In truth, Marlene was not a particularly mild-tempered intelligent entity. Her demeanor was a result of Luo Wen’s directives. The Swarm needed to use this negotiation to alter its image in the eyes of the Confederation’s member races, which was crucial for Luo Wen’s future plans.

Moreover, he believed that changing the Swarm’s image would align with the interests of certain factions within the Confederation. It was possible that, without the Swarm even needing to leverage its network of “insiders,” these factions would actively promote the change behind the scenes.