I Am The Swarm-Chapter 774: Blockade

“We can’t wait any longer. We must declare war on the Ji race now!”

“Are you insane? We’re no match for them!”

“Do you have a better plan? If we keep waiting, everything our ancestors built will be wasted!”

“He’s right. We have to take the initiative. Though the timing is a bit rushed, when you really think about it—it may be the perfect opportunity.”

The mysterious organization had changed its meeting location. Now that they had revealed their identities, there was no longer any need to hide. As expected, beneath the black robes were the true power holders of various Inner-circle civilizations. But at this moment, their opinions were divided.

“Let’s hear your reasoning.”

“The advantages of taking the initiative are threefold. First, while this decision may be abrupt for us, it’s equally sudden for the Ji. Second, war will disrupt their rhythm. Their internal purges, especially in the military, will have to pause. They’ll need those troops to hold out until reinforcements arrive—even if they suspect infiltrators, they won’t dare remove them right now. Third, once war starts, we can openly seize the XM768 and XM1209 Star Gates and safely return the Swarm Empress.”

Upon hearing this, many began to nod. It made sense. In the past war against the Swarm, the Confederation had spent decades just mobilizing forces. And this time, with nearly twenty high-level civilizations involved, preparation would’ve taken even longer.

But the Inner-circle Alliance had been preparing for this day for hundreds of thousands of years. While not at full wartime readiness, they were still in a far better position than the Ji.

Another major advantage was geography—most Inner-circle civilizations bordered Ji territory. This meant they could directly threaten the Ji’s domain.

Though the Ji had vast forces, over half of them were spread across the Confederation—stationed at outposts, Star Gates, starports, and patrolling fleets. Though some could rush back via the Star Gates, if they abandoned their posts, the Star Gates and starports would be at risk.

If they tried to split their forces—some to reinforce, some to defend—they risked repeating the loss of XM768, where misjudging the balance could lead to coordinated attacks from within and without.

True, in terms of combat power, Mid and Outer-ring civilizations were negligible. Even if they all rebelled and reinforced the Inner-circle Alliance through the Star Gates, it wouldn’t shift the tide.

But the Ji couldn’t just abandon those Gates either. For their remote forces to return quickly, the Star Gates were essential.

When the Ji built their Gates, they hadn’t anticipated a day like this. Gates, starports, and garrisons were often spaced far apart.

Worse still, while the Ji had constructed many Star Gates across the Confederation, only ten existed within their own core territory. If those outer Gates fell, the Inner-circle Alliance could teleport troops straight into the Ji heartland. They could even send high-yield bombs to destroy the Gates themselves. If those ten were lost, the Ji would be isolated for a long time.

Unfortunately for the Alliance, the Ji had long fortified their territory into an iron fortress. Even without Swarm assistance, the Inner-circle Alliance would struggle to inflict major damage.

But their true enemy wasn’t the new Ji—it was Lumina. Due to its unique nature as a lifeform, it was nearly impossible to destroy. Merely injuring the Ji race would be meaningless. The Alliance needed to wipe them out completely.

Given the vast territories on both sides, even after the Inner-circle Alliance declared war in New Era Year 97, by Year 100—when Sarah’s ship approached the XM768 Star Gate—only a few skirmishes had occurred. Casualties were minimal.

Originally, the Alliance planned to seize the XM768 and XM1209 Star Gates immediately after declaring war. But this turned out to be far harder than expected.

Since XM768 was repaired, troop movements hadn’t stopped. Over the years, the Ji had amassed several hundred million warships in the relatively small star system.

This force far exceeded what a Star Gate normally required for defense. And during earlier self-inspections—though they hadn’t found the Swarm Empress—they had rooted out several suspect individuals, making it harder for Inner-circle moles to incite rebellion.

In fact, most ships only had a handful of undercover agents. So the Alliance often resorted to suicide attacks with internal EMP bombs.

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But now that the Ji had heightened security around EMPs, those tactics had become nearly impossible.

And after the earlier inspections reduced the number of moles, these attacks became even harder to pull off. Capturing XM768 the old way—by flipping ships from within—was no longer feasible.

As for brute force, trying to assault a star system guarded by over a hundred million warships, with a Gate that could only teleport small fleets at a time, was suicidal. Everything sent through would be destroyed.

So, despite everything, XM768 remained under Ji control by the time Sarah arrived.

The top brass of the Inner-circle Alliance were nearly pulling their hair out. The Swarm Empress was in position, but the gateway wasn’t open. XM768 wasn’t the only problem—XM1209 was blocked too.

Worse still, the Ji had attempted to destroy XM1209. Fortunately, thanks to desperate sabotage from Alliance moles—and the innate resilience of the Gate—it remained intact, albeit damaged. Repair crews, aided by the Swarm, were working to restore it.

But XM768 had already severed its link to XM1209. While reauthorizing teleportation was possible, it would take time. This meant the Alliance’s contingency plan to seize the Gate control center and force a reactivation was also a bust.

“After all this… do you really think the target will still come to XM768?”

“If she wants to return home, she has no choice. She may already be here.”

“But with our defenses this tight, won’t she have zero chance of success? If she doesn’t act, we won’t even know where she is.”

“It doesn’t matter. Our objective has changed. Before, we wanted to capture her. Now, we just need to prevent her from returning to the Swarm. As long as she’s stranded out here, we can focus all our energy on crushing this so-called Inner-circle Alliance without worrying about Swarm interference.”