I Am The Swarm-Chapter 586: Departure

“The Swarm’s border is simply too vast. With just over 100 million ships, we can’t possibly blockade it entirely. Moreover, I’ll emphasize that to avoid the Swarm detonating the star, the interception force must maintain a certain distance from the star.”

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“Staying away from the star means staying away from the battlefield, which further stretches the interception line. This allows our ships to disperse naturally. If things go south, we can minimize our losses.”

Conradus spoke confidently, and the Rashudia high-ranking officials listening to him visibly relaxed. However, they still had some questions.

“So, is the interception mission just a facade?”

Conradus thought for a moment, then nodded. “Most likely. The purpose of this expedition was to achieve some impressive victories. We didn’t expect Mowei to buy us so much time, giving us the chance to secure the first victory against the Swarm. This already exceeded our expectations. There’s no need to be overly greedy. But if a good opportunity arises—like encountering a small Swarm force—we shouldn’t let it slip.”

“Exactly. It seems your mental state is fine. I was quite worried about that for a while,” one Rashudia official said, nodding in satisfaction.

After this war, Conradus, as the Confederation’s overall commander, would undoubtedly gain immense personal glory and be recorded in the official histories.

This war had been relatively easy. Aside from the outer-ring civilizations suffering heavier losses, the other races hadn’t lost much.

The Rashudia’s top brass had been concerned that Conradus might become overconfident, thinking the Swarm was weak, and make some reckless decisions. Now, it seemed those worries were unfounded.

After reassuring and sending off these Rashudia dignitaries, Conradus’s expression turned blank again. As an Intelligent Entity, his primary directive from the great Overmind was to buy as much time as possible. There was no specific plan—he had to improvise. Fortunately, other Intelligent Entities were assisting him.

The Swarm’s development had been too rapid, and they needed more time to grow stronger. Luo Wen had initially planned to fight a fierce war, temporarily abandon this territory, and return when they were stronger. After all, the interstellar coordinates were fixed; the Interstellar Technological Confederation wasn’t going anywhere.

But with the continuous exploration of anchor units, the establishment of new sub-hives, and the increase in Intelligent Entities, the Swarm’s strength had grown exponentially. Combined with some gains from Planet Botian, Luo Wen felt that if things continued this way, the Swarm might not need to retreat. They could settle the score with the Confederation right here and now.

However, the gap between the two sides was still significant. Thus, Luo Wen ordered the Intelligent Entities to buy as much time as possible. This was why the Daibo commander had felt that the Confederation’s internal atmosphere was somewhat off.

The Intelligent Entities frequently manipulated the narrative, increasing the risk of exposure. But to buy time, they had to take some risks.

Fortunately, the Intelligent Entities’ stealth capabilities far exceeded the Confederation’s understanding. Even if they acted strangely, others would only find it odd and not connect it to anything else.

It was like seeing someone with social anxiety suddenly burst into a loud performance on the street. You’d assume they were having a moment, not that they were an alien.

Moreover, the Intelligent Entities only made subtle changes, making them even harder to detect.

After much back-and-forth, the Kler, Wuju, and Motexi races couldn’t change the outcome. Despite their best efforts to delay, they eventually had to contribute half their forces as planned.

With the outer-ring civilizations shielding them and their advanced range technology keeping them further back, the gradual withdrawal of their ships went unnoticed.

Additionally, under Conradus’s arrangement, other civilizations also contributed some ships to fill the gaps. These races were happy to help without taking on the dangerous mission themselves.

This made the reduction in the three races’ forces even less noticeable, but the process was time-consuming. Combined with the three races’ deliberate stalling, it took nearly half a year to assemble the fleet under constant pressure from Conradus and the other races.

The Rashudia’s Overseer Fleet, positioned further back and not yet engaged in combat, could withdraw half its ships without drawing much attention. By dispersing their formation and filling the gaps with fighters and other small craft, the Swarm, far away, wouldn’t easily notice.

However, while they didn’t need to sneak ships out one by one, they did need to transfer excess personnel. This was a significant logistical challenge. Moreover, while they didn’t need to hide from the Swarm, they had to avoid detection by the other races. If it were discovered that their frontline ships were controlled by the Ji Race’s artificial intelligence, it wouldn’t look good.

Thus, under the pretext of filling formation gaps, their ship-based fighters frequently sortied, with transport shuttles hidden among them to transfer personnel to other ships.

Therefore, the delays caused by the Kler, Wuju, and Motexi races were welcomed by the Rashudia and the Intelligent Entities, including Conradus.

To avoid Swarm detection, ships leaving the main fleet would first travel to a rally point 0.1 light-years away, where they would wait for the rest of the force.

Fortunately, this process could be carried out simultaneously with the withdrawal of ships, so it didn’t take much extra time.

After more than half a year, the fleet composed of the four races finally set out. They would first enter warp travel in a dispersed formation, then regroup at prearranged coordinates to await the Swarm or further orders.

Meanwhile, after six months of intense fighting, the Swarm’s forces had continued to dwindle. With the Confederation’s numerical advantage growing, the stronger side could accelerate their gains, while the weaker side struggled to keep up.

The Swarm’s forces now numbered less than a billion, a 30% reduction from six months ago. This was despite half the Kler, Wuju, and Motexi forces being withdrawn. Otherwise, the Swarm’s numbers might have already dropped to 800 million.

According to projections, in another eight to nine months, the Swarm’s forces would be reduced to a critical level, their formations shattered. If not for the threat of the stellar bomb, the Confederation could have launched an assault by now, encircling and dividing the Swarm without all this trouble.