I Am The Swarm-Chapter 528: Interception

The Blades unanimously agreed that the Yuntu and Sangqie races were indeed the targets. As mentioned earlier, the technological level among mid-rim civilizations varied greatly, and not all of them possessed dark energy conversion devices. However, the Yuntu and Sangqie races, being among the elite of the mid-rim civilizations, undoubtedly had this technology.

The Overlord’s demands had to be prioritized, and the Blades quickly confirmed their targets.

“However, they’re not easy targets. If we’re going to strike, we need to plan carefully.”

“They’re the fastest. The fleets of other races are slightly slower, and with the differences in their starting points and flight paths, we can exploit the time difference.”

“They don’t believe we can pinpoint their locations. If we take advantage of this information gap, we can pull off something big.”

“Exactly. We might not get another opportunity like this.”

After some discussion, the Swarm forces began adjusting their flight paths, changing direction toward new rally points. Five months later, Swarm units started emerging from warp travel one after another.

The void was filled with countless reconnaissance instruments from both sides. To avoid making their tactical intentions too obvious, the Swarm forces chose over five hundred emergence points, making it seem like a random lottery.

Since warp travel required maintaining a certain distance between units, the forces arrived in stages. The early arrivals, taking advantage of the relatively ample time, began clearing out the surrounding reconnaissance instruments.

With so many clearing points and the assistance of “insiders,” the Swarm’s actions didn’t raise any alarms within the coalition. Instead, they were mocked for their apparent randomness.

After clearing the coalition’s reconnaissance instruments and driving away their scout ships, the later-arriving forces focused their efforts. The initial forces at the two rally points used sub-light speed travel to shift their positions by 0.1 light-years, while subsequent forces directly adjusted their flight paths to reach the new rally points.

At the same time, mines were deployed. These mines utilized the massive energy released when dark matter was detonated to briefly disrupt gravitational balance, destroying warp bubbles.

Ships caught in the destroyed warp bubbles were lucky if they managed to escape with half their hulls intact. Those less fortunate were crushed into dust by the chaotic spatial forces.

However, due to the large number of rally points and limited time, the two interception points had only managed to gather less than ten million units by the time the battle began. Though it seemed like a futile effort, it was actually more than enough.

With everything prepared, all that was left was to wait for the prey to arrive.

No matter how advanced the Yuntu and Sangqie races were, they couldn’t bypass the limitations of warp travel. Thus, their ships also advanced in a relatively loose formation, layer by layer.

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Several ships at the forefront suddenly blared with piercing alarms, but before the Yuntu crew on duty could react, they were torn apart by gravitational turbulence, losing consciousness.

Outside the warp bubbles, fragments of ships were spat out, scattering in all directions at such high speeds that they even damaged a few distant Primordial bodies.

As more dark matter mines were detonated, more Yuntu ships were torn apart. Unfortunately, among the debris spat out by the gravitational turbulence, there were no intact dark matter energy conversion devices.

Yuntu ships continued to be destroyed, yet the ships behind them seemed completely unaware, still charging headlong into the trap. In fact, the ships further back had no idea what was happening ahead.

In warp travel, only quantum communication systems could function normally. Even among the top-tier forces of the mid-rim civilizations, it was impossible to equip every ship with a quantum communication device. Combined with the information blackout during warp travel, this created a situation where the forward forces were under attack while the rear forces remained completely unaware.

Higher civilizations could mitigate this risk by equipping every ship with quantum communication devices and allowing communication within the fleet. However, such civilizations were exceedingly rare. This was also why fleets constantly adjusted their flight paths during warp travel. Once their positions were known, it could spell disaster for them.

Fortunately, as more dark matter mines detonated, their effects began to overlap, gradually forming a large anomalous region. This inadvertently helped the Yuntu.

Finally, Yuntu ships detected the anomaly from a great distance, triggering alarms. The ample buffer distance gave them time to react.

Five million kilometers from the anomalous region, a Yuntu ship dropped out of warp travel. The crew broke out in a cold sweat, relieved they had reacted in time. A few more seconds, and they would have plunged into the gravitational anomaly.

But their relief was short-lived. After exiting warp travel, their conventional radar activated, immediately detecting the surrounding Swarm forces.

No matter how advanced the Yuntu ships were, facing a encirclement of millions of Primordial-class units, combined with the element of surprise, escape was impossible. Even Ji race ships would be helpless in such a situation.

But surrender meant death, and the Yuntu crew weren’t ready to die. As long as there was even the slightest chance, no matter how minuscule, they were determined to try.

In their current predicament, re-entering warp travel was impossible. They could only activate their sub-light engines and randomly choose a point in the encirclement to attempt a breakthrough.

As they began their charge, a second and then a third Yuntu ship emerged from warp travel. The Yuntu crew were quick to grasp the situation.

Their engines flared as the ships gradually accelerated, following their companions ahead. They believed that collective strength would be greater than individual efforts, increasing their chances of success. As long as their companions continued to arrive, they might just break through the Swarm’s encirclement.

To their delight, the Swarm seemed to have frozen or encountered some issue, completely ignoring their actions and simply watching as they charged toward the encirclement.

The crew felt something was off, but they had no time to think too deeply. The captain and other crew members were being awakened. They had never expected to be intercepted, so many were still in hibernation during their space voyage.

The third, fourth, fifth… up to the tenth ship.

The Yuntu forces grew larger, and just as they were beginning to feel hopeful, when the eleventh Yuntu ship appeared, the seemingly inactive Swarm forces suddenly bared their fangs.

As the ship emerged from its warp bubble, before it could even assess its surroundings, the Swarm had already locked onto its position. Thousands of energy beams struck in an instant, reducing it to fragments.