I Am The Swarm-Chapter 798: Another Shift
Within the Inner-circle Alliance’s domain, their Star Gates—originally intended as potential escape routes for the Swarm—had, during the brief period they sided with the Ji Race, nearly been destroyed. Not only that, they also attempted to destroy the Star Gates within Swarm territory, hoping to lock the Swarm within their frontier lands for a time.
But how could the Swarm possibly entrust such crucial infrastructure to the Inner-circle Alliance? In truth, whether within Inner-circle territory or within the Swarm’s own domain, there wasn’t a single outsider present at any of the Star Gates.
Later, the Inner-circle Alliance mobilized surrounding fleets, planning to seize the Star Gates by force, even deploying nearby Battle Stars. Yet before these fleets could even arrive, their allegiance shifted again.
The Swarm’s plan for a discreet withdrawal had failed. Now, they had no choice but to fight it out. Since that was the case, there was no point in pretending anymore. To minimize losses in the pasture, the Swarm would now have to display some real strength.
Suddenly, nearly two thousand Swarm Star Gates were activated across Swarm territory. Over the past two hundred years, leveraging their terrifying number of research Intelligent Entities, the Swarm had completely mastered Star Gate technology and developed a biological version of it.
Long ago, Luo Wen had already encountered, through other channels, miniature wormholes capable of pinpoint teleportation within a planetary interior. This technology was even more powerful and sophisticated than the Ji Race’s Star Gates. With it—and his own unique traits—Luo Wen developed the Fold Crossing Skill.
That moment marked a turning point in the Swarm’s evolution. Luo Wen, who had once struggled to survive, transcended his role and quickly rose from being a pawn to becoming a player. With a more detached mindset, he began managing the affairs of the Genesis Galaxy.
With such foundations, the Swarm’s version of Star Gates outperformed the Ji Race’s in every way. These megastructures, having never revealed their function before, were not particularly suspicious in the eyes of the Ji Race, given the abundance of megastructures in Swarm territory. As a result, the Ji Race remained completely unaware of the Swarm’s hidden Star Gates.
However, even with the addition of over two thousand Star Gates, it was still temporarily impossible to increase the Swarm’s troop deployment speed. That’s because, within the Inner-circle Alliance’s territory, even if all Star Gates operated nonstop, they couldn’t accommodate the output from the Swarm’s nearly three thousand Star Gates.
But that was fine. The Swarm had anticipated this.
The benefits of standardizing Swarm unit templates now came into play. Since the base template for most of the Swarm’s space units revolved around the Fungal Carpet, many units—though appearing different on the surface—shared a similar underlying genetic structure. This allowed for a degree of recombination and integration.
And the Swarm’s Star Gates inherited this trait.
Over a thousand strategically chosen coordinates along the frontline borders saw a surge of Primordial bodies flooding in. They clustered together, pressing tightly against one another. Their outer shells gradually dissolved, reverting to their most basic nutrient form, and then rapidly restructured and regenerated.
With continuous replenishment from the Primordial bodies, one Swarm Star Gate after another took shape. Though the Ji Race had guessed that these megastructures were something unusual, under heavy Swarm interdiction, all they could do was watch helplessly.
Although the flesh of the Primordial bodies dissolved and reformed, their Dark Energy Furnaces did not. These remained suspended within the biological mass, floating and settling into ordered positions amidst the chaos.
After a period of concentrated effort, the Swarm Star Gates were finally completed. The moment they came online, the surrounding void trembled.
Swarm Star Gates bore unmistakable Swarm characteristics: beneath reinforced bio-armor lay dense, powerful muscle layers that formed the defensive system of the Star Gates.
Inside, energy conduits linked to countless Dark Energy Furnaces, enabling them not only to absorb energy from external sources like the Ji Race’s Star Gates but also to generate their own. This allowed them to activate at far greater speeds than the Ji Race’s Star Gates, bypassing the need for prolonged energy accumulation.
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Dim, ethereal blue bioluminescent lamps lit up one after another, illuminating mysterious purple markings on the bio-armor. The surrounding void began to churn as it was drawn toward the Star Gates.
Energy tides grew stronger, eventually becoming visible to the naked eye. The intense fluctuations warped space. At their centers, a formless gateway was taking shape.
And when these gates were fully formed, they immediately established links with their counterparts across vast distances, forming channels that bridged both space and time.
Swarm troops, who had long been waiting in place, flooded into the gates from deep within Swarm territory—and poured out from the other side—replenishing Swarm lines across the front and pushing the advancing Ji forces back.
By this point, the Inner-circle Alliance’s fleets had been ordered to withdraw from the battlefield. Although mid- and low-level officers and soldiers didn’t know what had just occurred, they were all thrilled to learn they were being pulled away from the horrifying frontlines.
With that, what was once a three-sided conflict now became a direct confrontation between the Ji Race and the Swarm. All other races were reduced to mere spectators.
Once the Swarm’s Star Gates were fully constructed and operational, the Swarm shifted from defense to offense.
Facing the onslaught, the Ji Race—having only their pursuing warships on the field and no longer aided by the Inner-circle Alliance—naturally could not withstand the Swarm’s fully coordinated force and gradually began to collapse.
A segment of highly automated warships, controlled entirely by Artificial Intelligence and carrying almost no living beings, stayed behind to cover the retreating forces and prevent losses from being worsened by pursuit. However, their numbers were limited, and under the Swarm’s ferocious attacks, they couldn’t hold out for long.
Still, the time they bought was sufficient. The Ji Race’s warships were highly advanced, and with complete AI control, they were able to coordinate retreat tactics with extreme efficiency, minimizing losses while delaying the enemy.
The Ji Race retreated all the way to the Star System just beyond their own borders, where they were finally able to halt their losses thanks to the Battle Stars and minefields guarding the system.
The war once again settled into a standoff—but this time, the intensity of the engagements far surpassed anything seen before. The Swarm’s combat units seemed to be under some kind of bloodthirsty buff, fighting with frenzied aggression. With nowhere left to retreat, the Ji Race was forced into a purely defensive posture.
As a result, both sides saw their casualty rates skyrocket. The Swarm, having no concept of morale, was unaffected by this attrition. But things were different on the Ji side. Their fleets were filled with ordinary officers and soldiers, and as the battle escalated, panic inevitably spread.
Morale might be intangible, but its impact was very real and incredibly powerful. Perhaps to avoid unnecessary losses and delays in orders due to fear and disobedience, the Ji Race’s Council of Elders made a new decision.
The Ji soldiers were gathered and relieved of wartime duties. They were then transported to the rear via specialized transport ships, while the frontlines were handed over entirely to Artificial Intelligence.
