I Am The Swarm-Chapter 680: Conditions

The Swarm needed to change its image in the eyes of the Confederation races, not because it was weak or afraid. In Luo Wen’s eyes, the loosely-knit Confederation and the independently governed Confederation races posed a relatively low threat.

If these were the only enemies, Luo Wen wouldn’t bother wasting words. He would simply act. By continuously infiltrating with “insiders,” fanning the flames, and shifting conflicts, Luo Wen believed it wouldn’t take many years for the Swarm to take control of this galaxy.

However, there was a greater threat lurking behind the Confederation. Although it was only Luo Wen’s hypothetical enemy, he had always been adept at strategizing against unseen adversaries. Preparing more plans was always better than being caught off guard.

This war had been instigated by the covert encouragement of many powerful factions, but after reaching this point, many civilizations no longer wished to continue.

At the beginning, they had assumed the Swarm was merely a lucky emerging civilization that had inherited the legacy of an ancient advanced race. Unfortunately, this discovery had been made before the Swarm had sufficient time to develop.

In the eyes of these Confederation races, the Swarm was like an infant who had stumbled upon a cosmic warship—possessing a treasure but unable to use it. With their strength, subduing the Swarm should have been effortless. At worst, even if they couldn’t claim the greatest treasures, they could still reap some rewards for their efforts.

However, this underestimation was ruthlessly disproven by the outcomes of successive battles. The Swarm was not only strong but also a hundred, even a thousand times more formidable than they had imagined.

By now, the Swarm’s strength was sufficient to withstand the combined forces of over a hundred outer and mid-ring civilizations. Although they had revealed a few trump cards, no one knew how many more such cards they held.

This level of power likely placed the Swarm on par with inner-circle civilizations, and even among them, the Swarm would rank near the top.

Just like in the recently concluded war, outer-ring civilizations had served as shields for the mid-ring ones. But if inner-circle civilizations entered the fray, the Swarm’s strength would match theirs, and mid-ring civilizations would likely become the new shields.

Wars of this scale were no longer something outer and mid-ring forces could participate in. The risks far outweighed the meager rewards, leading many civilizations to grow increasingly resistant to continuing the conflict.

Moreover, the Ji race’s performance in this war had been deeply disappointing. They could have joined the battle much earlier but instead chose to stand by and watch their allies suffer heavy losses. Such leadership left many feeling deeply dissatisfied.

Even in this negotiation, civilizations with forces captured by the Swarm had no voice. This further amplified their discontent.

Luo Wen knew that the current situation was the result of certain factions stirring the pot. Through years of infiltration by “insiders,” he had learned that some forces sought to use external factors to provoke the Confederation, create conflicts, and destabilize the previously unshakable class structure.

The fact that the Ji race had not yet personally entered the battlefield was largely due to these factions’ efforts. Now, the Swarm had not only completed its task but had exceeded expectations. Seeds of dissatisfaction with the Ji race had been sown, waiting to grow.

However, the Swarm, originally a pawn, had unexpectedly grown into a behemoth, catching these factions off guard. In their view, a pawn aspiring to become a player was no longer a good pawn and needed to be eliminated. But the Swarm now held billions of warships and trillions of Confederation captives—numbers unprecedented in the history of the Confederation.

This left them in a dilemma. Continuing to attack the Swarm would likely result in the deaths of the captives, turning the mid and outer-ring civilizations not only against the Ji race but also against the inner-circle ones.

Yet, the factions causing trouble were mostly from the inner-circle civilizations, along with their members in the Ji race. This outcome was far from their original goal.

Their aim was to overthrow the Ji race, a process that required many pawns. But if these pawns grew to resent them, their task would become far more difficult, introducing variables and making the effort ultimately futile.

On the other hand, allowing the Swarm to continue growing was also risky. The Swarm’s development speed was astonishing. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, it had transformed from a minor nuisance into a formidable force.

Given more time, the Swarm might indeed cause them to stumble. However, while the inner-circle civilizations were powerful, they were vastly outnumbered.

Most mid and outer-ring civilizations no longer wanted to continue the war. They would inevitably push for peace talks, and even if they couldn’t speak up during the meetings, they would work behind the scenes.

For instance, promoting a positive image of the Swarm could elevate its status. If the Swarm needed this narrative, it would likely treat the captives more leniently, giving them a chance to save their own people.

Even if discovered, it wouldn’t matter. The sheer number of races involved made them the foundation of the Confederation. Without them, the rulers’ power would have no basis.

Thus, Luo Wen believed that the Swarm’s new image would be promoted by the Confederation itself, without the need for “insiders” to intervene.

As expected, the negotiations reached a stalemate. The Swarm’s bottom line was that the captives could be released, but the Confederation must cease its aggression and recognize the current boundaries between the two sides. Additionally, to ensure the agreement’s implementation, the Swarm would hold the captives for a hundred years.

These conditions left the Confederation deeply troubled. First, the Confederation had indeed planned to attack the Swarm, slandered it in the media, and used Confederation rules to oppress it slightly.

However, in their view, these were merely political maneuvers. The actual military conflict seemed to have been initiated by the Swarm. This led to disputes over who had started the war.

Second, although the Confederation had numerical superiority, the Swarm’s opponents had been carefully selected, allowing the Swarm to develop smoothly. Not only had the Confederation lost every battle, but it had also ceded significant territory, with some races even becoming refugees.

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This made it hard for them to accept the Swarm’s portrayal of itself as the victim. Now, the Swarm even wanted to formalize the current boundaries.

It was worth noting that the Swarm currently occupied over a dozen star systems within the Confederation’s territory. If the agreement were signed as proposed, the individuals involved in this meeting, especially those with a voice, would likely be criticized for years to come.