I Am The Swarm-Chapter 668: Acceptance

This representative didn’t bother with unnecessary theatrics, as his race’s strength didn’t allow for such luxuries. Continuing his explanation, he said, “I spent a long time there, responsible for liaising with the Riken regarding that miraculous potion.”

The others immediately understood which potion he referred to—the one that had made the Riken famous despite their weakness.

Expecting him to reveal some explosive information about the longevity serum, they were surprised when he suddenly shifted topics. “During my stay, I uncovered some buried history of the Riken—a history obscured and altered over time. Though calling it ‘history’ might not be accurate, as it only spans about a century. To us, that’s merely the duration of a single hibernation during space travel.”

“But for a civilization at their level, a hundred years is an eternity. While much of what I uncovered was distorted by the Riken, the truths I found weren’t particularly useful. After all, they’re just an emerging race.”

They spoke confidently, but after rambling for a while, he hadn’t reached any significant points. Lost in his reminiscence, and with the others bored and needing something to pass the time—and ease their fear—they let him continue uninterrupted.

It was rare to see representatives from mid-ring civilizations and higher-tier outer-ring civilizations silently listen to a lower-tier outer-ring representative ramble without interruption.

“I truly believe those historical accounts are as cliché as old TV dramas—utterly devoid of substance. But now, I think at least one piece of information might be somewhat helpful to us.”

“What is it?” someone asked eagerly, leaning forward.

The speaker remained immersed in his memories, undisturbed by the question, and continued at his own pace. “According to Riken records, some of their teams fell into the Swarm’s hands for various reasons. Surprisingly, the Swarm didn’t kill them all but instead imprisoned them. And their prison? Their own ships.”

“Haha, the notion that the Swarm doesn’t accept surrender has always been deeply ingrained. Initially, I thought this was just a fabrication by the Riken, but now, perhaps it’s true. If so, everyone, take better care of your ships. They might become our homes for a long time. Don’t ruin the environment…”

After waiting for so long, the listeners were disappointed to find that his convoluted speech amounted to just this tidbit. While it did have some minor utility, it was negligible at best.

In truth, even without his reminder, no one planned to deliberately damage their ships after deciding to surrender. Such behavior would likely be seen as provocation, potentially triggering unforeseen consequences. Angering or misleading the Swarm could be disastrous.

Moreover, stranded in space, their survival depended entirely on their ships. Why would anyone sabotage their own lifeline?

Unfortunately, the person who thought he’d dropped a bombshell only earned himself a roomful of eye rolls. Under normal circumstances, his behavior might’ve caused diplomatic tension, but now, no one paid him any mind.

Just as the representatives sought another topic to pass the endless wait, the response they’d been anticipating finally arrived…

“Commander, there’s news!” Across ships of various designs, models, and races, voices erupted in different languages, but their general meaning was the same.

“What is it?”

“A signal has come from the Swarm’s direction. It’s in our format—the simplest electronic signal, using the Confederation’s universal language. They…”

“What’s the content? Send it to my personal terminal immediately.”

This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.

“Yes, Commander…”

Soon, all the races received the message. The Swarm agreed to accept their surrender. For easier unified management, they instructed each race to activate their ships and head to designated locations.

Simultaneously, to avoid unpleasant incidents, Swarm combat units would board each ship to oversee the process. Each race was required to disarm under the watchful eyes of these units.

The message was simple, yet it differed from what the races had anticipated. In their minds, the Swarm should’ve held a formal surrender ceremony, giving them an opportunity to boldly negotiate better terms.

But the Swarm was the Swarm—direct and brutal. Since you’ve already surrendered, disarm yourselves and proceed to the designated location.

“What do we do? That so-called designated location is probably riddled with traps. Once we enter, there’s no way we’ll leave on our own,” one representative voiced his concern.

However, his words quickly drew a dismissive snort from another. “Hmph, stop overthinking. It’s not like you can escape now anyway.”

“You!…”

“Enough. We’re fish on the chopping block. Having come this far, we can only submit. Now, we can only pray the Swarm isn’t as brutal as rumored. If they aren’t, maybe there’s hope for rescue one day.”

“Let’s hope so…”

The Confederation ships reignited their energy systems, relit their running lights, and restarted their engines. Following the Swarm’s instructions, their cannons were directed toward the Confederation’s territory—the opposite direction of the Swarm’s domain. Though this gesture was largely symbolic, as the cannons could swivel within a second or two if needed.

“These are the liaison personnel?” The figures appearing before the representatives were upright wolf-like creatures—a stripped-down version of the Red Fang Breakers, lacking HF organs and FN blades. These units had been produced aboard the ships from scratch, with limited energy resources and scarce materials insufficient for equipping them with advanced weaponry.

Though these Red Fang Breakers appeared somewhat unusual, their humanoid form brought some relief to the representatives—at least these wolf-like beings walked on two legs rather than four.

With the diverse appearances of the representatives, the Red Fang Breakers didn’t seem out of place. Aesthetically speaking, many representatives found them far more appealing than the long-necked Scherian natives, Elder Humes’ kin.

“Could these also be part of the Swarm?” The appearance of these rare humanoid units led to misunderstandings among the representatives.

“The Ji race’s data stated the Swarm doesn’t look like this. Moreover, I just cross-referenced their appearance data—they appeared during the Yuntu race’s war.”