I Am The Swarm-Chapter 786: Reaction

“That’s certainly not a bad choice. But have you considered—would the Swarm really not anticipate such a simple response?”

“Maybe they think we’ll choose to fight head-on? After all, with odds at fifty-fifty, it’s worth a gamble.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple. They must have other schemes in place, waiting for us to act. Even if we choose to fight, we still have the ability to blow up the Star Gate when we’re on the brink of defeat.”

“Maybe all of this is just for show—to lure us into retreat. In reality, they’ve already positioned troops around the Star Gate. They may have even infiltrated our garrison. Then, when our troops begin withdrawing and are about to destroy the Star Gate, they’ll strike suddenly and seize control of it.”

“That could very well be their plan. They’ve already captured control of several of our Star Gates using similar tactics. This time, they’re just adding some preliminary steps.”

“That’s probably the most likely scenario. So what do we do? Are we really going to go toe-to-toe with the Swarm there and open up our first external battlefield?”

“Our border situation is already tense. We can’t afford to waste troops elsewhere.”

“I have an idea. Why don’t we concentrate our personnel onto a portion of our warships and have them withdraw first? Then we leave behind some highly automated forces, controlled by Lumina. Once the personnel have fully evacuated, we blow up the Star Gate, and the automated units will be a gift to the enemy.”

“That could work. The Swarm would be put in a tough spot. If they fight, they’d just be venting anger on chunks of metal while still taking losses. If they don’t fight, it’s even more frustrating.”

“Agreed.”

“Agreed.”

And it wasn’t just the New Ji Race—on the Inner-circle Alliance side, discussions were also underway regarding the Swarm’s latest actions.

“Who gave the order for our ships to cooperate with the Swarm?”

“Actually, no one did specifically. I just looked into it. Back then, they voluntarily submitted a request asking if they could collaborate with the Swarm on some activities. At the time, we were still in our honeymoon phase with the Swarm, and they had never rejected any of our requests. So this application wasn’t really scrutinized—it just passed naturally.”

“That’s true. Though it’s been a while, I still vaguely remember. We originally thought Her Majesty the Empress just wanted to look around. And since the blockade level by the New Ji Race had lowered, we approved it. Who knew she’d quietly stir up such a massive operation.”

“I think it’s not that simple. Those infiltrators were handpicked and nurtured meticulously. They were elite operatives. There’s no way they wouldn’t notice the Swarm’s intentions, yet we received no reports. There must be something else going on here.”

“Maybe they were bribed by the Swarm. After all, to guard against Lumina, we didn’t maintain frequent contact with that side.”

“Those who were chosen to infiltrate the enemy ranks were even more loyal than active-duty soldiers. The Swarm couldn’t possibly buy them off.”

This member of a Inner-circle race made a good point. Judging by the infiltrators’ past behavior—executing suicide missions without hesitation—these people weren’t so easily swayed.

“If that’s the case, then the Swarm must have pulled some trick behind the scenes. Maybe those prior speculations were true—that the Swarm possesses units capable of controlling humanoids.”

“What should we do? Just let them be?”

“What do you suggest? Even if the Swarm did control those people, it’s not visible on the surface. We can’t harshly blame them without cause. Besides, we still need to rely on the Swarm. There’s no need to strain the relationship over something minor. After all, the Empress has been drifting in exile for over a hundred years. The fact that she hasn’t lost her throne yet—it’s quite an achievement.”

“Indeed. We’re the ones bordering the New Ji Race. If the Swarm pulls out, they’ll surely suffer for it, but we may not live to see it.”

“Still, we should subtly express our dissatisfaction. We don’t want the Swarm thinking we’re fools. And we must conduct a round of inspections across all races—the most advanced level—to check if anyone else has been compromised.”

“Running a full inspection like that will be expensive. Do you really believe those bugs exist?”

“Better to believe they exist than to assume they don’t. We need to check for peace of mind. Otherwise, just imagining that the person I’m speaking to might have a bug in their brain—gives me the creeps.”

“Agreed. This isn’t the time to worry about costs. To maintain the most basic level of trust among us, this round of inspections is absolutely necessary.”

Regardless of how the New Ji Race and the Inner-circle Alliance reacted to all this, the Swarm, following its own pace, steadily assembled its forces and began advancing toward the XM768 Star Gate.