I Am The Swarm-Chapter 762: Expectations

If the mysterious organization could hijack a target ship right under their noses, then it was clear that they would have arranged a corresponding reception plan meticulously.

However, their approach was utterly ruthless. As the saying goes, the strongest fortresses are breached from within. Despite all precautions, the Ji race never expected one of their own to detonate EMP bombs inside their ships.

At the same time, he was shocked. These individuals had always been like rats, hiding in the shadows, rarely caught. This led the Ji race to underestimate their scale. Now, with their sudden mobilization, they realized spies were everywhere.

But no matter how many there were, they were still just more rats. Could they really blow up all of the Ji race’s warships? The commander knew some units were fully automated and guarded by Lumina itself, ensuring its safety. Spies couldn’t infiltrate these ships.

Their exposure would only cost the Ji race some losses but wouldn’t achieve anything significant for them. However, they paid with their lives. The commander pondered what could have driven these people to such madness.

“What is the position of the nearest patrol to XM768?”

“The nearest patrol to the XM768 star gate is XLXD1029101, at a distance of 2.6 light-years.”

“Redirect them and send them a mission notification.”

“Notification sent.”

With arrangements made on the other side, the Ji commanders fell into a contemplative silence. At 2.6 light-years, it would take some time to arrive, and results wouldn’t be immediate. They could only wait for developments at the XM1209 star gate. If the target was still in the rear section of the warship, all problems would be instantly resolved.

However, multiple EMP bombs had detonated around and inside the target warship, causing lingering magnetic fields that prevented the use of reconnaissance devices. Only manual searches were possible.

Many bulkheads were sealed, and without auxiliary programs, soldiers had to resort to brute force demolition, significantly slowing the search.

“Do you think we should issue a bounty notice?” One commander suddenly spoke during the tense and boring wait.

“XM768?”

“Yes.”

Near XM768 was a large starport filled with countless merchant trade ships from various races. A sufficiently lucrative bounty would surely attract some willing to risk their lives.

Moreover, judging from the two civilian ships docked near the bow wreckage, the mysterious organization wasn’t some invincible military. Those merchant trade ships might stand a chance against them, or at least delay them. But…

“It’s unwise. Once a bounty is issued, we must open the star gate area to allow those individuals entry. The star gate is our most advanced technology, and we can’t guarantee that among those merchants, no one will take advantage of the chaos. I don’t know the exact value of the Swarm Empress, but I do know that the star gate is crucial to us and must not be compromised.”

One Ji commander voiced opposition. The Ji race strictly controlled the star gate zones, and when closed, the surrounding area was a no-fly zone. Any unauthorized vessels entering were highly likely to be destroyed immediately.

Thus, even though the merchants at XM768 noticed something amiss at the star gate, none dared to investigate.

“Indeed, it’s unwise. Besides the issue of star gate technology, we can’t guarantee how many rats have infiltrated those merchant trade ships. If they take this opportunity to approach and secretly transfer the Swarm Empress amidst the chaos, it would unnecessarily complicate our mission.”

“Correct, I also oppose issuing a bounty. Everyone knows these rats clearly consist of a few inner-circle civilizations and some of our own Ji race members. Such high-level conflicts shouldn’t involve lower-tier civilizations.”

“Agreed. I don’t want this failure to become public knowledge. Issuing a bounty would be tantamount to self-exposure and might amuse those guys.”

“…”

After much discussion, the proposed suggestion was rejected, but it effectively passed the anxious waiting time.

“Reporting, the preliminary search results are out; no hibernation pod found.” Unfortunately, the initial search results were disappointing.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

“It seems those rats intentionally transferred the target to the bow. They may have anticipated the current situation.”

“Perhaps, but we cannot entirely rule out the possibility that the target remains on that fragment.”

“True. From the updated data, the target has stealth and mimicry capabilities. During the battle, she might have escaped in the chaos and hidden somewhere on the ship.”

“Then let’s conduct a thorough search. Bring more personnel to eliminate the magnetic pulse fields, and bring more mechanical soldiers and instruments to search meticulously.”

“Don’t slack off on XM768 either. Selina, keep an eye on things. If necessary, you are authorized to hack into the systems of those lower civilization vessels to use their monitoring systems to track the target.”

“Understood…”

XM768 was bustling with commerce, located over a thousand light-years away from the anti-Swarm battlefield. Thus, the intense battles here wouldn’t affect them. Even the shockwave from the stellar explosion, after reaching there in over a thousand years, would feel like a gentle breeze.

However, due to the flourishing commerce, there were numerous civilian merchant ships coming and going. With Lumina’s capabilities, hacking into the onboard intelligence of those merchant ships wasn’t a problem. This not-so-secret secret was also a reason why various races tried to avoid excessive automation of their core forces.

If the Swarm Empress was indeed hijacked by the mysterious organization at XM768, their complete escape would require blending into the starport and using the complex personnel composition to hide themselves.

But crowded areas were also where artificial intelligence, or rather Lumina, excelled and thrived in combat environments. Numerous personal terminals allowed it to monitor every corner of the starport.

Therefore, staying behind meant certain death. Their purpose was somewhat known to the Ji race, and given their demonstrated capabilities, they surely understood this point. Hence, they would undoubtedly choose to relocate.

Through the dense network of monitoring devices on those merchant ships, the Ji race could track those rats for a while. And their patrol fleet would arrive in just three to four months.

This was a race against time. Would the mysterious organization reach a desolate area and evade all surveillance, or would they be intercepted by the Ji patrol before escaping the monitoring network?

Nevertheless, compared to these considerations, the Ji commanders still hoped the second round of searches would uncover the target.