I Am The Swarm-Chapter 653: Discussion

Due to the lack of replaceable parts, the Z-2Q-15 spider-shaped robots were temporarily prohibited from engaging in combat. Even the Z-R-2 humanoid robots without large metal shields were restricted to guard duty. This left only the two shield-bearing Z-R-2 robots to carry out the work, causing the Z-series squad to advance through the corridors at an excruciatingly slow pace.

“Captain, does what we’re doing really have any meaning?” Out of the twelve members of the squad, only two were actively working, while the other ten were on guard duty.

In reality, the entire corridor was divided into countless sections by blast doors, each no more than fifty meters long. This was to ensure that if the ship’s hull was breached, the damaged area could be quickly and specifically sealed off.

At a maximum distance of fifty meters, even without high-tech instruments, the naked eye could easily detect any danger.

Given such a short distance, there was no need for all ten guards to remain hyper-focused. As a result, the squad members had more free time to ponder philosophical questions.

For example, whether their snail-paced search was actually useful.

To be honest, Knox found this question difficult to answer. Although he was the squad leader and held a slightly higher rank than the others, he was still just a squad leader. The amount of information he received wasn’t significantly greater than that of his team members. Due to the similarity in the amount of information they had access to, his thoughts on many matters were identical to those of his team.

Thus, he shared their doubts. At such a slow search speed, and without any interference, completing the task would take at least several years.

Moreover, and most importantly, they had limited manpower and couldn’t seal off the areas they had already inspected. This meant that even if they finished inspecting a section of the corridor, the Swarm could re-enter through wiring conduits, ventilation shafts, or other channels and re-establish their presence.

This wasn’t alarmist thinking or wild speculation. Other squads had already encountered this situation. After completing an inspection of a corridor, when the squad temporarily returned for rest, they were ambushed by Swarm units again.

This made their current work slow and seemingly meaningless. The only truly safe area was the section they were standing in and actively monitoring. Once they left a section, it would become dangerous again.

Therefore, the squad members’ doubts were also Knox’s doubts. He moved his lips several times, trying to come up with a reason, but each time he dismissed his own thoughts.

The captain’s silence somewhat dampened the squad’s morale. They were filled with uncertainty.

“Perhaps the captain and the higher-ups have their own considerations,” Knox said, racking his brains to come up with a reason that wasn’t really a reason. However, this perfunctory response did nothing to boost morale.

“I’ve heard that this situation isn’t unique to us.”

“Yeah, I heard the communications team talking about it in the mess hall earlier. Apparently, the number of ships infiltrated by the Swarm has reached a pretty terrifying figure.”

“I’ve heard that too. It’s probably around sixty to seventy percent. Anyway, it’s a lot.”

“Hah, with so many ships affected, what have our intelligence officers been eating all this time?”

“You can’t really blame them. Even the Rashudia Race wasn’t spared. And with so many races in the Confederation, none of them detected it in advance. The Swarm clearly used some method we don’t know about to pull off this infiltration.”

“At this point, assigning blame isn’t going to help. The key issue is how to resolve this invasion. Are all the ships in the Confederation just going to keep playing this slow-motion game of house?”

“Maybe. After all, in this situation, if anyone had a solution and kept it to themselves, not only would they be offending people, but they might also be held accountable later and face a military tribunal.”

“If that’s the case, then this is really terrifying. I feel like victory is slipping away from us.”

“I feel the same way. A few days ago, we were practically ready to hold a victory celebration.”

Although Knox’s response didn’t achieve much, it broke the squad’s silence. The team members began sharing the information they had gathered from various sources and expressing their views on the situation.

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While Knox sensed a strong undercurrent of negativity in their words, he didn’t stop them. After all, compared to others of their race, they were “family” who could trust each other—comrades who could rely on one another in battle.

In the current situation, any form of concealment would be irresponsible. Besides, sharing information among themselves could help the squad plan their next steps.

“It’s too late to talk about this now. We need to start thinking about what to do next.”

“What? Are you serious? Even though I’m a bit pessimistic, we still hold the absolute advantage in the overall situation. These damn traps are just limiting our range of movement. You don’t actually think the Swarm can turn the tide with these sitting ducks, do you?”

“I really think it’s possible. With so many ships infiltrated, and the Confederation’s higher-ups having no effective way to deal with them, isn’t that terrifying enough? So far, we’ve only seen these trap-like units. What if there are others?”

“That’s true. Gale is right. We really need to start planning ahead. The Swarm has already quietly shifted the battlefield to the interior of our ships. Countless ships in the Confederation have become countless battlefields, and in these small-scale battlefields, the advantages we previously held are completely gone.”

“Actually, saying they’re completely gone might even be optimistic. The Swarm has only revealed one type of immobile trap unit, and it’s already pushed us to this point. You don’t really think the Swarm only deployed this one type of unit, do you?”

“If what you’re saying is true, why didn’t the Swarm just deploy more combat units? These traps can only limit our range of movement and buy time. As long as we protect a few key compartments, the Swarm can’t turn the tide.”

“Maybe limiting our movement and buying time is exactly what the Swarm wants. In the areas we can’t reach, who knows what they’re doing.”

“Hah, maybe they’ve built a hive inside our ship. These traps are just there to stop us from destroying the early-stage, vulnerable hive. That’s how I play in those real-time strategy games—build defenses early on.”

“That’s why it feels so familiar! Now that you mention it, this is just like the ‘tower defense’ strategy. I just watched a match replay of that playstyle a few days ago. It’s incredibly sneaky.”

“…”