I Am The Swarm-Chapter 703: Offense and Defense

The Ji forces’ attacks seemed to have no regard for their allies. The indiscriminate bombardment not only devastated the Swarm’s armored units but also inflicted heavy casualties on the Ji’s elite soldiers.

If this scene of fratricide had been witnessed by the other races, it would have caused an uproar. However, coincidentally, the video feeds to external media outlets were abruptly cut off, leaving only those present at the scene and a few closely related departments aware of what had happened.

Some individuals, like Ambros, sensed that something was wrong. Whoever had issued such an order was essentially gambling with their future. Moreover, with Ji elders and high-ranking officials from other races present at the scene, issuing such an order would have required more than just one or two Ji elders’ approval.

Under normal circumstances, such a thing would never have happened. But since it had occurred, it was clear that some new variable had been introduced. This was why Ambros had screamed in panic and cursed—this situation had completely exceeded his understanding. To survive, he not only had to evade the Swarm’s attacks but also guard against betrayal from his own side.

However, this indiscriminate bombardment, regardless of friend or foe, had a significant effect. It instantly cleared a large area, cutting off Sarah and Tella’s path to reunite with the main force.

“Have the Ji gone mad?” Tella rarely swore, but the Ji’s actions had left her stunned. The area ahead had been turned into scorched earth, making it a perfect target if they tried to cross.

Although the battle had only just begun, Tella could guess from the Ji’s firing patterns that the Confederation’s goal was to capture the Empress alive. If they crossed the scorched earth, they likely wouldn’t face heavy bombardment.

But she couldn’t leave the initiative entirely to the Ji, staking the Empress’s life on the assumption that the enemy wanted her alive. Therefore, she couldn’t take the risk of crossing the scorched zone.

If they didn’t go through the scorched earth, they would have to take a long detour to reach the Swarm formation, significantly increasing the difficulty of reuniting. What frustrated her even more was that the Confederation—or rather, the Ji—might change their minds at any moment. With their current indiscriminate attack pattern, as long as they maintained their orbital strike capability, there was no safety for Sarah and Tella.

“Your Majesty, we must destroy their orbital forces,” Tella said urgently.

Sarah, still in Tella’s arms, nodded. The top of her exoskeletal helmet began to flash with colors. Although their eyes had been damaged by the flash bombs, temporarily disabling their ability to interpret multi-color signals, other Swarm units still retained this capability.

The Ji, despite not having fully deciphered the Swarm’s multi-color encryption system, were aware that the Swarm was using it.

“The Swarm Empress is continuously sending multi-color signals. We must stop her!”

“There’s no good way to do that. If we use smoke screens, it would hinder us too much. Flash bombs can’t cover all the Swarm units either.”

“Then don’t worry about it. She’s probably just sending distress signals. As long as we destroy any Swarm units trying to reach her or that she’s trying to reach, we’ll be fine. Also, send in special ops teams to capture her.”

“Send more people. We need to hurry. Our mission isn’t just to capture her—we also need to plan our retreat!”

“Understood!”

What the Ji didn’t know was that Sarah wasn’t sending distress signals at all. Instead, she was relaying information to distant intelligence operatives, who then forwarded it to the Swarm forces in space.

The Swarm’s orbital forces suddenly became frenzied, charging recklessly at the Ji warships. With the two sides already in close proximity, the sheer numbers of Space Octopuses quickly closed the distance.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

The Ji’s technology, supported by the research efforts of all the races in the Confederation, was undoubtedly the pinnacle of advancement—and their materials science was no exception.

The warships’ armor, pitch black and smooth, was of unknown composition and manufacturing process. Only the Swarm’s Primordial bodies anti-matter cannons could inflict minor damage on it. The close-combat attacks of the Space Octopuses, which had been unstoppable against other foes, were utterly ineffective against this armor.

However, the mature and larval bodies of the Swarm, which lacked anti-matter cannons, weren’t entirely useless. While they couldn’t breach the Ji warships’ armor, they could interfere with the ships’ cannons, drastically reducing their accuracy.

Orbital strikes on planetary surfaces required precise calculations, with the atmosphere alone demanding significant computational power. Adding the variable of Space Octopus interference made it nearly impossible to calculate the correct firing angles.

“A miss by a hair’s breadth means a miss by a thousand miles”—this saying perfectly described orbital strikes. Until the Ji warships cleared the larval and mature bodies clinging to them, they wouldn’t be able to provide effective fire support to the ground. Sarah and her guards’ safety was finally back in their own hands.

The Ji quickly realized this and understood that the Swarm’s orbital forces’ sudden aggression was likely linked to the multi-color signals Sarah had been flashing earlier. But there was little they could do about it. Unless the Swarm were all blinded, completely shutting down their multi-color communication system in a small-scale battle was nearly impossible.

“Hurry up and clear these pests off our ships! Our comrades below still need our support,” a Ji warship captain barked, seemingly forgetting that he had just bombarded those very comrades.

The Ji warships’ hangar bays opened, and the Swarm larval bodies, like sharks drawn to blood, surged toward the openings. But unlike their usual devastating assaults on other races’ fleets, they didn’t immediately dismantle the ships’ control systems from within.

Instead, spherical, spider-like, and humanoid robots and combat suits emerged from the hangars, unleashing a fierce counterattack that pushed back the horde of larval bodies. Under their cover, unmanned fighter drones launched from the hangars, forming formations and circling the warships to clear the Swarm units near the firing platforms.

The Ji’s unmanned fighter drones were spherical, with a miraculous propulsion system that allowed them to stop and start instantly. This enabled them to perform complex maneuvers in space and they don’t have a turning radius, far surpassing the agility of other races’ unmanned fighter drones. They could even hold their own against the larval bodies.