I Am The Swarm-Chapter 684: Secret Meeting

“As a race of immigrants, the genetic differences among the Ji race are greater than those among the animals on your home planet. Under such circumstances, claiming you are a unified entity is something I cannot believe.”

Marlene continued her barrage of sarcasm, showing no signs of de-escalating the situation. Surprisingly, Ambros still held his ground. He pretended not to hear Marlene’s taunts and continued to placate Beladuka. His unusual behavior left the onlookers stunned.

Meanwhile, the mid-ring and inner-circle civilizations finally realized that something was amiss. However, they quickly reached the same conclusion: only a sufficiently massive benefit could make someone so composed.

But what exactly was this benefit, and how significant was it? That was beyond their involvement.

—

In an unknown region, spanning hundreds of kilometers, the area was desolate, devoid of human activity or any electronic devices. Yet, deep beneath the surface at the center of this region, there was a hidden world.

The dark cavern bore clear signs of artificial excavation. For human labor, such a massive underground structure would have been an enormous undertaking.

“Is the information confirmed?” Deep within the cave, several humanoid figures cloaked in opaque black hoods were conversing.

“It’s been confirmed. The special operations team the Ji race sent to infiltrate the Ratfolk has relayed the information. It’s almost certainly true.”

“But I feel like something’s off, though I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

“You need to adjust your mindset. You can’t start doubting yourself just because of a few failures.”

“Exactly. The situation with the Ratfolk isn’t even on par with a normal interstellar civilization. To them, the Ji’s special ops team is like a god—they can take whatever they want.”

“I still think we need to verify this information further.”

“There’s no time. The Ji race has already begun their operation. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. After all, a reasonable pretext isn’t easy to come by.”

“Could this be a trap?”

“In what sense? From the Swarm? Or the Ji race?”

“Sigh, both, I suppose.”

“It’s unlikely the Swarm would set such a trap. First, it’s completely unnecessary and would only put their empress in the most dangerous position. Second, if the information is accurate, it would explain many of the mysteries we’ve been puzzled about. Given that relations have already broken down, the Swarm has no reason to stir up trouble.”

“Right. The Swarm empress has been well-hidden until now. Putting herself in the spotlight would be extremely unwise and completely out of character for the cunning Swarm.”

“Unless the empress is just a puppet.”

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

“Is that possible?”

“It’s not impossible. For example, what if the Swarm empress is actually controlled by that ancient legacy?”

“But if that’s the case, what would be the purpose of the legacy? Does it want to switch hosts? But the Swarm has already grown to such a scale. Does it want to switch to the Ji race? The Ji aren’t so easy to deal with.”

“True. Based on the available information, they have no motive to do so.”

“Moreover, what would be the purpose of such an action? I can’t see any benefit for them in doing this.”

“From my perspective, since this information resolves so many of our doubts, even if parts of it are false, the true parts must outweigh them. If we assume the Swarm is deliberately putting on a show, it would mean they’ve discovered the Ji’s special ops team. But wouldn’t it be simpler to just eliminate them? Why leak their own intelligence?”

“The logic doesn’t hold.”

“Then this information is almost certainly true.”

“I never doubted it. After all, the Ji race has many capable individuals. What we can think of, they can surely think of as well. Only after verification and with a high degree of certainty would they take such action.”

“So what should we do? Let the Ji race obtain it?”

“How could we? What we want is for the Ji race to engage the Swarm in a direct confrontation, not this kind of special ops raid. Even if this operation fails, it won’t significantly weaken the Ji race.”

“So we must stop the Ji race?”

“The Swarm’s assets were originally meant to be seized after the Ji race defeated them. Who would have thought the Ji would act so unpredictably?”

“After all, not all elders are on our side.”

“Stopping the Ji race is neither justified nor feasible. But if we play along, could we benefit from the situation?”

“There’s a chance, but how would we handle the aftermath?”

“We could execute it flawlessly.”

“Hah, in this galaxy, how many can snatch food from the Ji race’s mouth? If something goes wrong, the Ji won’t even need evidence to come after you. Do you want us to confront the Ji race now?”

“Then what should we do? Just watch?”

“Perhaps we could inform the Swarm. If the Swarm takes precautions, they could easily thwart the Ji’s plans.”

“That’s not advisable. The Swarm and we are practically mortal enemies. They might proactively inform the Ji that we leaked the information, especially someone like Marlene. She would definitely do such a thing. If that happens, we’d end up in conflict with the Ji, and the fisherman would change.”

“We could do it anonymously. Even if the Swarm doesn’t know who tipped them off, they’d likely take precautions just in case. That way, we could still achieve our goal.”

“That’s not advisable either. The information is currently locked down. Do you really think the Ji are only guarding against Swarm spies? Even if there are spies, could they infiltrate the Ji elders’ council? The Ji are clearly guarding against us. If something goes wrong, they’ll have an excuse to target the elders sympathetic to us and follow the trail.”

Hearing this, the group broke into a cold sweat.

“Listening to you, I get the feeling that the Ji’s real target isn’t the Swarm but us.”

“Exactly. I’m starting to feel the same way. This is a setup, using the Swarm as bait to find an excuse to deal with us.”

“Indeed. In their eyes, the Swarm’s strength pales in comparison to theirs. If they wanted to, they could eliminate the Swarm at any time. The Swarm’s treasures could be taken whenever they pleased. There’s no need to make things so complicated. Their real target might be to purge the origin race sympathizers.”

“Using the Swarm as cover to find an excuse to clean up other factions—that’s a ruthless move.”

“So, we can’t inform the Swarm.”

“Then are we just going to sit back and watch?”

“This is an open scheme, and it’s putting us in a difficult position.”

The group fell silent. Warning the Swarm would undoubtedly lead to their “insiders” within the Ji race being targeted. But if they didn’t inform the Swarm, and the Swarm remained unaware and unprepared, the Ji race might succeed. If that happened, the Ji’s power would skyrocket, completely crushing any hopes they had.