I Am The Swarm-Chapter 760: Racing Against Time

The EMP bombs equipped by the Ji race were extremely powerful, capable of breaching even the defenses of their own warships. The effect of such high-level EMPs detonating inside ships with weaker defenses was predictable.

The ten warships of Squadron 0599 quickly lost power; their lights went out, the engines stopped, and numerous circuits exploded due to the brutal attack.

One ship had particularly bad luck. An explosion occurred in a main line near the propulsion system, triggering a chain reaction that led to the destruction of the main power line supplying energy to the propulsion system. The explosion traveled along the main line and ultimately detonated the ship’s energy core.

The violent explosion triggered more chain reactions, breaking the ship into three major parts and countless fragments.

One large fragment flew away from the formation, another grazed the tail of another ship and also drifted away. However, the last large fragment, accompanied by numerous smaller fragments, headed directly towards JZJ18982192798, the ship carrying the Swarm Empress.

If struck by this massive fragment, the robust reactive armor of the warship would prevent severe damage. However, the impact could certainly alter the course of JZJ18982192798, which had already lost power.

Even a slight deviation would be enough to cause failure in the mysterious organization’s hijacking or rescue mission when the ship reached the star gate.

Fortunately, just before releasing the EMP bombs, Squadron 0599 had arranged themselves in a tight formation. According to calculations, this large fragment would be blocked by another warship on JZJ18982192798’s flank.

Collisions in space were silent. Everyone watched as if watching a silent movie, seeing the fragment strike the side of the ship two-thirds of the way along its length. After a brief contact, both objects separated.

The large fragment passed about ten kilometers behind JZJ18982192798, grazing another ship before drifting away from the formation.

The impacted ship slightly turned its bow and gradually drifted away from the formation due to inertia.

Watching the gradually receding ship, members of the mysterious organization aboard the remaining ships felt a shared sorrow. Although communications between allies had been severed due to the EMP bombs, they knew that to avoid interrogation and revealing their organizations information, their teammates on the deviating ship had likely already sacrificed themselves.

“They all died for the ideal, for the future of our races. We should feel honored for them.”

“…We are not yet out of danger. Perhaps in the next moment, we will be the ones being honored.”

“Sigh, we are the last hope. If we didn’t act now, we would slowly be consumed and eventually become slaves to those machines.”

“Who knows… I hope you’re right…”

With the ship’s control systems destroyed by the electromagnetic pulse, the members of the mysterious organization had nothing to do. The mechanical soldiers who had been pounding on the door outside had turned into scrap metal, and the hostages hung on the door, intended to deter the Ji race, had been neutralized as they were no longer useful.

Thus, after a short whispering session, the cabin became quiet. Each person waited with complex emotions…

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On the Ji fleet’s side, attacks on Squadron 0599 had never ceased during this short period. Energy attacks, with their strong penetrative power, generally aimed to destroy the enemy ship’s energy system.

However, now that the enemy ships were completely powerless, their energy systems offline, and the main cannon’s energy attacks insufficient to directly ignite the raw materials producing energy, they couldn’t risk it for the safety of the Swarm Empress. Attacking the engine thrusters was also ineffective.

“Switch to railguns! Free fire, hit them hard!” Railguns, effective for physical strikes at this time, far surpassed energy attacks. Unfortunately, though still part of the Ji race’s combat lineup, railguns were mostly used to clear meteorites and asteroid fragments during navigation, and their combat capabilities were questionable.

A Ji warship was equipped with about twenty railguns, but their calibers were relatively small, not even reaching the level of secondary cannons. The Ji commander now hoped to use quantity to knock the target ship off course.

A deluge of projectiles flew toward the target, but due to projectile speed issues and the Ji race’s previous peculiar formation, only about twenty ships could fire three rounds before the target ship entered the star gate. About fifty ships could fire one or two rounds.

However, whether these rounds could knock the target ship off course under protection was uncertain. The Ji commander needed more insurance.

“Selina, can Lumina regain control of the star gate?” If control of the star gate could be regained, everything would be resolved—whether stopping it or reverting the coordinates.

“Estimated sixty-two seconds to regain control of the star gate.” A dispassionate mechanical voice sounded.

“Why so slow?” The Ji commander was dissatisfied. In his view, Lumina was godlike in the network’s domain. Regaining control shouldn’t take long. Sixty-two seconds—one minute meant that after regaining control, they would have less than twenty seconds to change or close the star gate.

To protect the star gate’s energy supply path from instant shock or disconnection, closing the star gate required at least a minute. Changing coordinates took even longer.

“The enemy used an entirely new algorithm, requiring time to parse, and they also employed some physical isolation methods, artificially reducing network transmission rates.”

“Damn it!” The commander cursed inwardly at the unreliable AI and then turned to order, “Let Squadrons 0613, 0614, and 0615 attack!”

Squadrons 0613, 0614, and 0615 had previously been ordered to target the C03 area of the star gate. This was an energy hub of the star gate; destroying it could instantly short-circuit the star gate’s energy supply system, causing it to temporarily close.

However, such large fixed facilities, to put it bluntly, were huge targets. To ensure they wouldn’t malfunction during wartime due to minor issues, their defenses were generally quite formidable. As the most frontline star gate against the Swarm, it had been reinforced again during construction and was protected by a shield barrier.

This made it difficult for thirty-six Ji main warships, even firing at full capacity, to damage it immediately. However, after a minute, when Lumina regained control of the star gate, the protective shield instantly shut down, and the battlefield situation changed again.