I Am The Swarm-Chapter 566: Back on Track

All races within the Interstellar Technological Confederation who were paying attention to the war against the Swarm knew that the Swarm possessed megastructures. Most believed that these structures undoubtedly had some mysterious and unknown uses. And now, Conradus was witnessing their function—or at least one of their functions.

The two megastructures, each over two thousand kilometers in length, were densely covered with uniformly sized main gun turrets, providing the Swarm with formidable long-range firepower. These two megastructures were like two satellite-level solid defense facilities for the Swarm, exceptionally ferocious.

While the two megastructures were indeed powerful—enough to play a crucial role in smaller-scale conflicts—they were almost negligible in the current super-battlefield, where the total forces deployed by both sides approached eight billion. Their impact was far less significant than that of the Puffer Cannonfish.

Conradus believed that the Swarm’s megastructures must have more uses than what was currently apparent, but the situation on the battlefield left him no time to ponder deeply. In truth, these megastructures were not as complex as the Confederation had imagined.

Initially, their function was exactly as the Confederation had observed: they served as long-range deployment platforms, enhancing the Swarm’s ability to explore beyond their star systems and deploy forces.

Later, their role diminished, but Luo Wen still habitually constructed two megastructures in every newly occupied star system. This was because, if not urgently needed, the primary cost of these megastructures was time. Once the initial seed was planted, they would gradually mature on their own, unlike the Confederation’s speculation that they required enormous resources to build.

It wasn’t until later, when Luo Wen developed the Fold Crossing skill, that the megastructures gained a new purpose. By harnessing stellar energy, they could weaken the barriers of this universe, allowing Luo Wen’s primary body to perform more operations. Additionally, the energy fluctuations from the self-destruction of these megastructures could effectively mask these activities. Thus, at that time, the megastructures took on a new role.

Now, after several decades, Luo Wen, who could continuously establish sub-hives, had grown at a rate far exceeding that of the first few centuries after his awakening. The megastructures had also found a new path of advancement.

Aside from the Puffer Cannonfish and the Swarm megastructures, the battlefield was also filled with tens of thousands of Desolation-Class Motherships. These motherships were like smaller versions of the megastructures, typically serving as mobile long-range deployment platforms. However, during defensive operations, based on the Fungal Carpet template, they could also deploy hundreds of main guns, providing firepower far more devastating than the Puffer Cannonfish.

However, due to their limited numbers, their overall impact on the battlefield still fell short of the Puffer Cannonfish. They could only add icing on the cake, unable to turn the tide decisively.

It was this assortment of elements that significantly boosted the Swarm’s long-range firepower, catching the Confederation forces off guard. After several rounds of intense exchanges, the Swarm had gained a considerable advantage.

Conradus’s face twitched, and his expression turned grim, though it was far from reaching a state of panic. The reason for his relative calm was that he knew he still had one card left to play—a card that was about to arrive.

This card was the seemingly cumbersome fleet from the outer-ring civilizations. Conradus now felt somewhat fortunate that he had brought them along. Initially, he hadn’t brought them with the current situation in mind; rather, he had intended to create some obstacles for the mid-ring civilizations.

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According to his original plan, after forcing the Swarm to activate the Stellar Bomb and the Confederation forces began their retreat, the outer-ring civilizations would block the mid-ring civilizations’ path. Even if they had prearranged agreements, this would inevitably cause some chaos and result in losses for the mid-ring forces. This was meant to be a punishment for their secret alliances and slander against the Rashudia Race.

Who could have predicted that the Confederation forces wouldn’t even complete the first step of forcing the Swarm to activate the Stellar Bomb? Now, these originally disruptive forces were needed to provide support.

As expected, when the outer-ring civilizations’ fleets entered the battlefield, the situation quickly reversed, just as Conradus had anticipated.

The main guns of the outer-ring civilizations, powered by controlled fusion energy systems, required multiple hits to take down a single Primordial Body. Therefore, while their firepower support wasn’t negligible, it was far from decisive.

However, because the outer-ring civilizations’ firing range was shorter compared to the mid-ring civilizations, they had to push forward to engage the Swarm. This gradually formed a front line of outer-ring fleets, with the mid-ring fleets positioned behind them.

Although the outer-ring civilizations’ technology was slightly behind, their ships were not small. With them acting as shields and the unmanned fighter drones filling in the gaps, they created an excellent firing environment for the mid-ring fleets behind them.

The mid-ring fleets no longer needed to divert energy to frequently activate auxiliary thrusters for maneuvering. This not only allowed them to fire at full capacity but also, due to the stable firing environment, increased their rate of fire and accuracy.

“Phew!” Conradus let out a sigh of relief as the battle stabilized. The Swarm’s earlier barrage had indeed given him a headache and caused significant losses for the Confederation forces.

However, with tens of billions of troops on the field, even if the intense exchange of fire continued, it would take at least several months, if not over a year, to determine a clear victor.

Although the outer-ring civilizations’ distance had caused a slight delay, the total time lost was less than half a month. Fortunately, these losses were still within acceptable limits.

Now, despite a minor hiccup, the battle was back on track. As long as they continued to grind down the Swarm step by step, victory would belong to the Confederation forces. As for how many losses the outer-ring civilizations, acting as shields, would suffer, that was no longer Conradus’s concern.

The Swarm, having fully transitioned to a dark energy system, fired dark gray energy beams from their main guns. This color was almost invisible in the void of space.

On the Confederation side, all outer-ring civilizations still relied on the relatively outdated controlled fusion energy systems. Even some mid-ring civilizations that hadn’t completed their full transition still had a portion of their fleets using controlled fusion systems.

From a distance, the Confederation forces appeared to be bombarding the Swarm with a sky-filling barrage of red energy beams, while the Swarm seemed to be silently enduring the assault.

However, in reality, the outer-ring civilizations’ ships were being continuously destroyed. Despite their large size and thick armor, they couldn’t withstand the impact of dark energy projectiles.

The Swarm’s losses were also significant. Conradus had recently altered his strategy, ordering the fleet to shift from evenly distributed firepower coverage to concentrated and focused firepower bombardment.

This meant that some Swarm units would be completely spared from attack, but the cost was that other units would face double the firepower.

The more concentrated firepower left little room for evasion, rendering maneuvering and pulling tactics useless. While fewer Swarm units were under attack, the rate of losses was skyrocketing.