I Am The Swarm-Chapter NaN

The Ji race had no idea that the mysterious organization and Sarah had pulled a U-turn. The Swarm’s stealth and mimicry technologies, coupled with the mysterious organization’s inside agents, rendered standard detection and defense systems completely ineffective against Sarah’s infiltration.

Although the Ji had purged a portion of the mysterious organization’s members, their roots ran far deeper than expected. Their numbers far exceeded the Ji’s estimates. Furthermore, the frontline units, due to their wartime assignments, were already shaken by the previous mass mobilization and internal investigations. The resulting panic had destabilized morale, and without solid evidence, another sweep would be unlikely in the short term.

The warship currently carrying Sarah had been reassigned from an outer patrol fleet. Its trajectory ran counter to most others because Ji command suspected the mysterious organization might tamper with fleets coming from the XM768 Star Gate. To disrupt those plans, Ji leadership ordered the outer fleets to rotate back and assume defensive duties at XM768.

The mysterious organization quickly caught wind of this move. After some deliberation, they approved the current plan. In fact, their original strategy had always been to wait until the heat died down and then sneak Sarah back through XM768 to return via XM1209 and, from there, to Swarm territory.

After all, they were still several thousand light-years from the Swarm homeland. Relying on ship propulsion alone—without interception—would still take centuries, perhaps over a thousand years. A thousand years? The Swarm hadn’t even existed in the Confederation’s awareness for that long.

Even the closest Star Gate was more than three hundred light-years away. That alone meant decades of travel. Given the current state of both the mysterious organization and the Swarm, they couldn’t afford to wait. They needed to restore Sarah to her throne—fast.

Thus, re-entering the frontlines through XM768 was the only viable way to save time.

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The Ji undoubtedly understood this too. Meaning, the current situation was likely a trap. But until the very end, who could say if it was misfortune or blessing? Saving time required taking risks.

“Does the Swarm Empress know any of this?”

“No, but when I asked for her opinion, just by looking at her expression, I knew she had already figured it out. Even the tricks we pulled didn’t escape her.”

“Oh? Aren’t you afraid she’ll ruin our arrangements?”

The black-robed man shook his head. “She won’t.”

“Why?”

“Dignity. A monarch’s dignity.”

“…I see. Now I understand…”

—

Sarah indeed knew about the mysterious organization’s contingency. From the very first ship she boarded—regardless of its disguise or internal configuration—there had always been one constant.

A high-yield thermonuclear bomb.

If triggered, it would instantly vaporize the entire ship and everyone inside.

To the Ji, a living Swarm Empress was essential—she was their only hope of unlocking what they sought. If she died, her value would plummet. If her body wasn’t even recovered, her death would be meaningless.

But to the mysterious organization, a living Swarm Empress was only valuable if she returned to her throne. Any other outcome posed a threat. So, as a safeguard, if they ever deemed it impossible to return her, she would be eliminated—cleanly, with no trace.

Because if Sarah died, they’d only be dealing with a disorganized Swarm. Once the Swarm appointed a new Empress, they might still collaborate.

But if Sarah fell into Ji hands—alive or dead—if the Ji unearthed anything from her, gained control over the Swarm, or unlocked their biotechnology, it would be the worst-case scenario for the mysterious organization.

Sarah knew all of this. But she didn’t object. It wasn’t about some notion of monarchal dignity—it was just a Swarm body. If she lost it, she could simply grow a new one through the Swarm network.

Besides, the performance was coming to a close. Most of the objectives the Overlord had laid out were already accomplished—and with results beyond expectations.

Thus, she was calm. But she also wasn’t curious to see what virtual test or black tech the Ji or Lumina might unleash. Being reduced to light in a nuclear blast was, honestly, a fine option.

Since the warship’s orders were already to return to XM768, the journey was grueling yet uneventful despite strict inspections.

But repeated warp entries and exits stretched a two-year journey into nearly five.

In those five years, much had changed. The supernova’s shockwave had forced both the Confederation and the Swarm to retreat, creating a physical buffer that, for the first time, separated both parties and paused the rising tension. With the Empress absent, the Swarm front fell into a rare period of peace.

This peace at the Swarm border was sharply contrasted by mounting tensions between the Inner-circle civilizations and the Ji race. After purging nearly 20% of the mysterious organization’s members, the Ji didn’t stop. They launched a second, even more stringent round of investigations.

This time, they seemed to have more intel. Several Ji Elders were stripped of their positions at the very start, and countless embedded operatives were captured.

Under such circumstances, the mysterious organization realized they couldn’t wait for the Swarm to take the lead. If they kept retreating, the next round of purges would be like boiling a frog in warm water—gradually eliminating them.

So, before the Swarm could arrive, they were forced to step into the spotlight. Their true identities were no longer secrets. They formed an Inner-circle Civilizations Alliance and ascended to the grand stage of conflict.

Thanks to traitors within the Ji race, these Inner-circle civilizations revealed sharp fangs. Their technological levels weren’t much lower than the Ji’s.

However, in electronic warfare, they were at a massive disadvantage due to Lumina. At any moment, their fleets could turn traitor.

Fortunately, they had spent years preparing for this very day. Though war broke out suddenly, they were not caught unready. To mitigate their disadvantage in automation, alliance warships had to carry more crew for manual operation of systems.

This logistical burden made their coordination far less efficient. Even if their ship specs were similar to Ji warships, their actual combat strength lagged by at least 30%. And as the scale of the war grew, this gap would only widen.