I Am The Swarm-Chapter 754: Pursuit

About twenty light-years away from the frontline base, there were three star systems. At the angle formed by these systems, a massive star gate spanned the void.

Constructing a star gate required an immense investment of manpower and resources. This region was the farthest corner of the Confederation, surrounded only by Outer-Ring civilizations—newly joined, emerging civilizations that ranked lowest in status. According to the rules established over hundreds of thousands of years ago, this area was far from qualifying for a star gate.

However, this star gate wasn’t built to develop nearby civilizations or enhance trade—it had a highly specific purpose: facilitating reinforcements to the frontlines against the Swarm.

When the construction of this star gate began, it sparked significant controversy. Decades ago, the Swarm’s reputation hadn’t reached its current level. While everyone knew the Swarm was strong, without tangible battlefield achievements, they didn’t see the Swarm as a major threat.

Each civilization had already dispatched fleets, and by the time the star gate was completed, most of those fleets would have already arrived, more than sufficient to crush the Swarm. After all, star gates were still a novel technology, and only the Ji race could build them. Many races hoped to have one or more star gates near their own territories.

But where star gates were built followed strict criteria set by the Ji race. Only civilizations meeting certain thresholds could apply. As a result, even many Mid-Ring civilizations lacked star gates near their borders. Thus, the Ji race constructing a star gate in such a remote area irked some. They felt it jumped the queue.

However, after this decision, the Swarm’s battlefield achievements grew significantly. Those achievements silenced critics who doubted the Swarm’s strength or questioned whether building the star gate was worth the effort.

Yet, other doubts arose. If the Ji race had long known about the Swarm’s strength and potential, why hadn’t they acted sooner? But the Ji race, controlling the network’s discourse, ignored these criticisms, outright banning such discussions.

These doubts didn’t disappear but continued fermenting within a small circle. However, due to power disparities, no matter how much they fermented, it made little difference.

Since this star gate had been completed not long ago, and the area lacked notable resources, the accompanying starport was less than half-built. Consequently, unlike other star gates bustling with merchants and queues of ships, this place appeared desolate.

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But this desolation suited the Ji race’s purposes. Fewer unrelated personnel meant a reduced threat level.

Today, this desolate outpost welcomed a significant transaction. At 0.1 light-years away, a large fleet of Ji warships emerged from warp space.

After nearly three years of travel, they had finally arrived here—but only half of the fleet that departed from the exploding star system remained.

The missing half hadn’t been lost to Swarm pursuit or ambushes. In fact, their journey had been largely uneventful. Though the Swarm was agitated by the capture of their Empress, the stellar explosion had halted their pursuit.

The Swarm’s first wave of pursuers, though only a few hours behind, encountered the already-detonated star. Even with their space-based units’ strong energy absorption capabilities, they couldn’t withstand the unmitigated shockwave of the explosion.

Continuing the pursuit would only result in being incinerated into ash, dying meaningless deaths. Thus, the Swarm’s pursuers reluctantly turned back. Similarly, most of the subsequent waves of Swarm forces also retreated, unable to bypass the shockwave’s range.

However, one group of Swarm forces, due to their route, could enter the Confederation’s territory and intercept the Ji fleet via a wide-angle flanking maneuver.

Even so, their numbers were insufficient to challenge the Ji fleet, even without external assistance. Moreover, blocked by the stellar shockwave, reinforcements wouldn’t arrive anytime soon. Even if they managed to delay the Ji fleet, it wouldn’t achieve much.

The Swarm wasn’t foolish enough to knowingly walk into a hopeless dead-end. But they were unwilling to do nothing, so this Swarm fleet chose to enter the Confederation’s territory—not to intercept the Ji fleet but to wreak havoc as retaliation.

The first star system hit by the stellar shockwave was busy evacuating when a Swarm fleet suddenly charged in. Though their numbers were limited and they lacked reinforcements, the Swarm fleet was no longer what it had been two hundred years ago. Equipped with dark energy systems and antimatter cannons, they easily crushed these Outer-Ring civilizations.

Under such dire threats, these Outer-Ring forces naturally sought protection from higher-tier powers. As the Confederation’s leading force, the Ji race couldn’t ignore the situation.

Thus, the Ji fleet split off half its forces and also diverted some frontline troops that had been assisting Outer-Ring civilizations with evacuation efforts, actively engaging the Swarm fleet.

A fierce battle ensued. The Swarm fleet, at a disadvantage, adopted a hit-and-run strategy, roaming through the Confederation’s territory and wreaking havoc on numerous factions.

However, this situation was precisely what the Ji race wanted. A significant reason the Swarm fleet managed to persist for so long without being annihilated was due to the Ji race’s tacit tolerance.

The Swarm’s rampage, coupled with the Ji race’s exaggerated propaganda, added a shred of credibility to otherwise dubious claims like “the Swarm struck first during negotiations” and “the Swarm detonated the star to kill Ji elders and captives.”

But allowing the Swarm to cause too much destruction while the Ji fleet and Confederation forces failed to subdue a Swarm fleet less than half their size would harm the Ji race’s prestige.

Thus, after half a year of the Swarm’s rampage, the Ji race “seized the opportunity” to successfully surround and eliminate them. Delayed by half a year, this Ji fleet obviously couldn’t catch up with their main force. Since the other side hadn’t encountered any danger, they were assigned by the Ji race to assist Outer-Ring civilizations with evacuation efforts and earn some goodwill in the process.

“The Swarm may have harmed some of our potential future allies, but they’ve also done us a big favor.”

“Their actions this time have severely damaged their image. If we ally with them in the future, malicious parties might use this against us.”

“What allies? Those Outer-Ring civilizations aren’t even cannon fodder—they’re expendable. Anyone who dares speak out of turn can be sent to the frontlines for ‘training.’”