In less than a year of formal combat, the Locke Mutual Aid Society’s plan to stop the Swarm’s advance had completely collapsed.
The coalition fleet sent to intercept the Swarm’s gathering point was instead encircled by the Swarm. After several major civilizations’ fleets were annihilated, the remaining foreign civilizations crumbled and fled toward the LKDW262 star system.
However, they were intercepted by Swarm forces outside LKDW262 and subsequently crushed between the Swarm’s pincer movement, resulting in near-total annihilation.
Difeck, thanks to a warning from Viller, managed to escape with his escort fleet and a few allied civilizations. Using the superior propulsion systems of their ships, they exploited a timing gap to break through the Swarm’s encirclement and pursuit. After fleeing toward the Koya Alliance for a distance, they safely turned back into the territory of the Locke Mutual Aid Society.
Meanwhile, in the LKDW262 star system, the situation, though dire, was not as catastrophic. The battle had not dragged on for too long, and a significant portion of the fleet remained intact.
The Moto’s three-thousand-ship fleet, which had been sent to support the planet, fled early with a portion of the population. Subsequently, the entire front line collapsed, and the various races’ fleets scattered in disarray. However, the general direction of their retreat was toward LKDW257.
The Swarm, already aware that the coalition had reorganized its defenses at LKDW257 and having achieved its strategic objectives, chose not to pursue the fleeing forces, allowing them to escape.
“These coalition forces were kept in the dark until their defeat. Once they return, with our cooperation, they might stir up some trouble.”
“Trouble is just trouble. It won’t have much impact. We need to focus on our own tasks and quickly consolidate our newly occupied territories.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
In this great battle, the Locke Mutual Aid Society fell from its moral high ground, transforming from mockers to the mocked. With the Koya Alliance’s propaganda, their policy of retreat was portrayed as a wise assessment of the situation, while the Locke Mutual Aid Society became a symbol of overreach and failure.
Soon, the fleeing coalition forces learned the truth of their abandonment. They formed factions and caused some disturbances. However, aside from providing the Koya Alliance with more ammunition for their propaganda attacks, these uprisings were quickly suppressed within the Mutual Aid Society.
After all, the senior members of the Mutual Aid Society had seen their fleets nearly wiped out in the previous battles. Compared to them, those who managed to escape were already fortunate. Nevertheless, the incident created fissures within the Locke Mutual Aid Society.
As for the Swarm, aside from secretly sowing discord within the coalition, their primary focus was on rapid expansion and amassing more forces.
Thirty years had passed since the war began. Due to distance and travel speed limitations, the civilizations the Swarm had faced so far, including the Troi, were all minor players from the outer rim.
As time went on, more and more powerful civilizations would join the fray. The Swarm could not afford to grow complacent after winning a mere warm-up battle.
In the 32nd year of the New Era, after gaining initial control over the LKDW262 and 263 star systems, the Swarm redirected forces from the Sandstorm, Golden Horn, White Grub, LKDW286, 287, and 288 star systems. These forces adjusted their trajectories and set out to conquer LKDW265 and 267.
Initially, the Swarm had launched simultaneous attacks on four star systems within the Locke Mutual Aid Society’s territory. However, due to the coalition’s interception at LKDW262 and 263, the Swarm had temporarily diverted forces intended for LKDW265 and 267 to reinforce the other fronts.
Now, with the capacity to spare, the Swarm returned to its original objectives.
The Interstellar Technological Confederation and the Locke Mutual Aid Society, closely monitoring the Swarm’s movements, naturally noticed this shift. However, this time, they chose not to confront the Swarm head-on. Instead, they adopted the Koya Alliance’s tactics, voluntarily abandoning LKDW265 and 267. ?????N???????
This decision was driven by the fact that only a year had passed since the last major battle. In such a short time, they couldn’t muster another force of sufficient quality and quantity.
Additionally, the war had exposed deep-seated issues among the coalition’s diverse races: their inability to coordinate effectively, their cumbersome and complex command structures, and their internal conflicts. These factors left them with little confidence or desire to engage the Swarm again.
They had come to realize that being the vanguard and winning battles only brought superficial glory, with little tangible benefit. The Swarm’s secrets were beyond their reach. Thus, they decided to follow the Koya Alliance’s example, prioritizing retreat and waiting for more powerful civilizations to step in, content to follow behind and reap the leftovers.
When the Swarm’s vanguard forces arrived at LKDW265 and 267, they found the star systems in a state of post-evacuation desolation.
Drawing from their experience with the Koya Alliance, the Swarm was well-prepared for this scenario. Units systematically cleared hidden surveillance devices, collected space debris, spread fungal carpets across the planets, and sent larvae and mature units to bask in the starlight…
In less than two years, the two star systems showed no trace of their former civilizations.
During this period, reconnaissance vessels from the Locke Mutual Aid Society and the Interstellar Technological Confederation repeatedly attempted to breach the Swarm’s blockade to investigate the life planets within LKDW262 and 263.
Taking the Moto life planet in LKDW262 as an example, the three thousand ships had only managed to evacuate a little over a hundred million people, roughly 2% of the planet’s total population. Tens of billions remained behind.
This was the largest population loss the Locke Mutual Aid Society, or the entire Interstellar Technological Confederation, had ever suffered. The previous record holder, the Daqi planet, had only seen a few million Daqi voluntarily staying behind.
Now, with such a massive increase over the previous record, while the Moto were genuinely concerned for their people, the other races were more interested in how the Swarm would handle these foreign populations.
When the Swarm had occupied the Daqi planet, they had been extremely secretive, and the coalition had gained little useful information. This time, they were determined not to miss the opportunity.
Unfortunately, the Swarm seemed to have lost interest in the life planets. They merely destroyed any ships attempting to flee and dismantled all long-range communication equipment on the planets.
After that, the Swarm left the life planets alone, no longer interfering with the tens of billions of Moto living there. Sёar?h the N?velFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
To most of the foreign races, the Moto could offer little value to the Swarm. Keeping them would only occupy valuable life planets, which seemed illogical.
Thus, the coalition was abuzz with speculation. Various theories were proposed, but none could convince the others. However, they all agreed on one thing: the Swarm was not acting out of benevolence. They had their own agenda, one that had yet to be uncovered.
As more and more foreign races joined the discussion, the topic grew increasingly heated, but no consensus was reached.
Luo Wen wasn’t worried about them discovering the truth. The Intelligent Entity Material Production Center, a structure that transcended dimensions, was beyond the comprehension of these foreign races.
However, Luo Wen was well aware of the foreign races’ talent for wild speculation. He was curious to see what kind of narrative they would concoct to explain the Swarm’s actions.