I Am The Swarm-Chapter 782: Divergence
“We must take the initiative—send troops to occupy those Mid-ring and even Outer-ring civilizations, and conscript their people as our mercenaries. Even if their technological level lags behind, many roles on a warship don’t require highly specialized knowledge. As long as they have brains, a bit of training should make them competent for a variety of positions.”
“Agreed. This will greatly expand our available manpower. We can also launch attacks on those Star Gates to sever the Ji race’s external supply lines.”
“That’s right. Anything that weakens them should be part of our next phase.”
“But without Star Gates for transit, the number of civilizations we can reach is limited. And attacking those scattered Star Gates will be nearly impossible in the short term.” One Inner-circle Alliance leader doused the enthusiasm with a dose of realism.
He wasn’t wrong. The Starsea Confederation’s domain was vast. Relying solely on warp travel, they could only reach a handful of civilizations in a reasonable timeframe.
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The Star Gates themselves were not only scattered but also spaced hundreds of light-years apart. Targeting them would be difficult. Moreover, the Ji race was surely aware of the strategic flaws and advantages of their Star Gate system. These critical locations were undoubtedly heavily fortified, and they formed a network connecting both the homeland and various external production sites. For the Inner-circle Alliance to conquer even one Star Gate head-on, the cost in manpower would be staggering.
Such a deployment would hollow out the frontlines, inviting a Ji counteroffensive that could wipe out all gains thus far.
Still, despite all this, the Inner-circle Alliance never let go of the idea of striking at the Ji’s external Star Gates. First, they still had a sizable number of undercover agents embedded in those areas. Second, they had no better tactical options available.
Of course, this plan could only serve as a supplement. Actual execution would require immense preparation. On the other hand, approaching Mid-ring and Outer-ring civilizations to “have a friendly talk” and conscript troops—that had high feasibility and could be implemented immediately.
Those civilizations bordering the Inner-circle tended to be among the oldest and strongest in the Mid-ring. Take the Rashudia Race, for example. Their people were highly educated. Apart from the most critical posts, they were fully capable of filling many roles on a warship—making them ideal recruits.
Faced with the combined fleet of the Inner-circle civilizations, even the proud Rashudians had to swallow their pride and submit.
After all, the Ji race was turtled up. If anyone dared resist, the Inner-circle Alliance would surely make an example out of them to keep the campaign on track. Everyone was smart enough not to walk into the gun barrel.
Besides these Mid-ring civilizations, the Inner-circle Alliance had seized a few Star Gates early in the war—Star Gate XM1209, for instance.
All the Star Gates under their control were built along the borders between Outer-ring or low-tier Mid-ring civilizations, which had even less ability to resist. These civilizations had no choice but to obey recruitment orders and “voluntarily” surrender resources, all under the banner of a “righteous war to liberate all races from Ji oppression.”
And so, time continued to pass. The frontlines pushed steadily forward, while operations in other areas also progressed smoothly.
In New Era Year 182, Star Gates Four through Eight were completed, tested, and brought online. Massive Swarm forces that had been waiting for years poured into the frontline, while the Inner-circle Alliance deployed freshly trained recruits alongside them to open up three new battlefronts.
The Inner-circle Alliance soon discovered that minefield warfare wasn’t entirely a disadvantage. At the very least, the rookie recruits from the Confederation races gained practical experience that helped them quickly absorb and apply the theoretical training they had just received—increasing the Alliance’s overall combat effectiveness.
Time continued to flow, and by the start of New Era Year 200, the anti-Ji Alliance had opened twelve primary fronts and successfully captured two star systems.
Unfortunately, those star systems had long been evacuated. Their resources had been thoroughly extracted. Not only were the smaller asteroids and meteoroids nowhere to be found, but even the planets and moons had been destroyed and refined into raw materials.
It was clear the Ji race understood a simple truth: better to destroy than to let it fall into enemy hands. While extreme, the tactic was not unheard of among higher civilizations—just rarely exercised to such a ruthless extent.
After all, planets were valuable. Most civilizations hesitated to go that far. But when it was done, it often marked a shift toward extreme escalation.
In truth, ever since the Ji race detonated the sun of the Swarm’s Star System One, their baseline had already proven shockingly low. This was merely further confirmation. Whether it was due to the inherent nature of the New Ji race, or the influence of Lumina, no one could say for sure.
Either way, the Ji race’s actions had already provoked widespread public outrage among Confederation’s civilizations. But this was of little consequence. In the dark forest of the universe, power determined justice.
Take, for instance, the explosion of the Swarm’s Star System One. In the Ji race’s version of the story, it was the Swarm’s own doing. If they were to win this war, that version would become historical fact.
But ruthlessness breeds ruthlessness. Inspired by the Ji race’s scorched-earth tactics, the Inner-circle Alliance began lowering their own moral standards. They even considered replicating the incident at Star System One.
“If that system only has the star left, why don’t we just blow it up? The shockwave from the explosion would wipe out that cursed minefield for us.”
“No! A stellar explosion affects everyone. If we detonate a star this close to the border, a bunch of our own territory will get hit too!”
“We can evacuate the civilians beforehand. With our technology, only three or four star systems will be heavily affected. The rest can be shielded from the impact.”
“Easy for you to say! Those systems aren’t in your territory.”
“We’re a united Alliance now—a single whole. Don’t be so narrow minded.”
“Hmph. Then I propose you accelerate your own frontier campaign and conquer a system soon—then blow up that star!”
“You—! That’s outrageous!”
Though this forced coalition had managed to cooperate on many fronts thanks to the shared threat of a powerful enemy, when cost and self-interest reached a critical threshold, friction became inevitable.
