Potential

To date, the Swarm has launched more than 30,000 Ancient Class Zerg over the past decade.

While the number of stars may seem enormous, when broken down over a period of more than a decade, the efficiency is not high. This is because Electromagnetic Megastructure orbit the stars, Riken Star System is only within their emission field of view for half the time.

They will gradually arrive at the outer edge of the Riken Star System in twenty years and gather there.

Because the Ancient Class beings do not need to exert any effort and their energy is quiescent, their external cloaking systems will activate, making them extremely difficult to detect with the observation technology of the Riken Race.

However, by observing the situation in the Proxima Star System, the Riken Race discovered newly appearing patches on the star, thus deducing that they were caused by being obscured by an unknown object.

Even if you don't know what this thing is for, you can imagine that it was created by the Swarm. And the fact that the Swarm can create such a huge thing is enough to prove that the Swarm is powerful.

Although the fluctuations in energy gathered by the Electromagnetic Megastructure were not as obvious as those of a fusion reaction, and were also masked by the stellar energy due to its proximity to the star, the Riken Race were unaware that the Swarm had already launched an attack.

However, the two sides have already started fighting, and the strength displayed by the opponent has weighed heavily on the hearts of all the informed Riken Race.

They could only find solace in accelerating the construction of defensive facilities, which, by a twist of fate, turned out to be the right step.

But who can know if this is what the Swarm desires?

Time flies, and twenty years later, the vanguard of the Swarm has reached the outer reaches of the Riken Star System and is gathering in the void.

As the Ancient Class Space Octopus approached the rendezvous point, it needed to gradually reduce its speed, inevitably causing some energy fluctuations. In addition, since it was already not far from the Riken Star System, Riken Race had deployed a large number of observation instruments in the Meteorite Belt on the outer edge of the system, the movement of the Swarm had already been detected by the Riken Race.

This can be seen from their gradual shift in defensive forces from being dispersed to being concentrated in front of the Swarm's assembly point.

Of course, Swarm also have more direct ways of learning, such as from Intellect.

Over the years, many things have happened to the Riken Race.

First, Speaker Antonio broke with the traditions and laws of the Riken Race. He should have ended his three terms more than 20 years ago, but he is still serving as speaker, citing the reason that it is not appropriate to change the leadership team during the war.

This reason received the support of most people, and whether there was any shady dealing involved was not what Rowan cared about.

Another major event was the matter of Life-Extending Serum.

Too many people knew about this; almost all of the millions of expeditionary soldiers who returned knew about it. Although Antonio issued a gag order, it was not very effective.

The laboratory researching Life-Extending Serum was later attacked by armed forces, resulting in the loss of some finished products, materials, and experimental data.

Subsequently, as time went on, more and more people in the Riken Race learned about this, and it gradually spread to the general public.

This led to several large-scale protests, which, incited by some, even escalated into riots. Fortunately, it was during the period of martial law, and the protests were quickly quelled.

Due to the special circumstances at the time, the speaker had no choice but to deliver a national address, making public the details of the Life-Extending Serum. He explained that the medicinal materials could be cultivated, and everyone would have the opportunity to use the medicine.

Of course, given the limited materials and production time, the personnel who use the medicine will be prioritized, with frontline soldiers and researchers having priority in enjoying this benefit.

Although this policy was met with some opposition, the majority of the Riken Race generally agreed with the distribution plan.

This also sparked a surge in military enlistment, because the military openly offered rewards for military service in exchange for medicine. Although the path was highly dangerous, it was considered easier than the path of scientific research.

Chloe hasn't been idle these past few years either; she and Claire have practically relocated all of her immediate family members.

Don't underestimate the sisters' relatives. Their maternal grandfather is a senior senator with real power, and even when Antonio meets him in private, he addresses him as a junior. Their paternal grandfather is a lieutenant general in the military, and although he has retired, he still wields considerable influence.

The father was also a high-ranking military officer, holding the rank of senior colonel, while the mother was a successful businesswoman.

The sisters' relationship spans the military, political, and business worlds, making them perfect protagonist templates.

Under the clandestine management of this family, the Swarm's underground influence on the Mother Planet of Riken grew rapidly, and the number of transformed Intellect reached over a hundred.

This is because one must disappear for seven days during the transformation, and even with a stand-in, oversights are inevitable.

In addition, the Swarm has a strict screening process, and the people transformed are all elites from various fields. Each person is transformed with a specific plan tailored to their individual needs; otherwise, the number of people transformed would certainly be much greater.

However, quality is more important than quantity. The energy that these hundred-odd people can exert is astonishing. It's just that it's not time to use them yet, and they are mainly used to relay messages.

Therefore, the decrees of the Riken Race are almost transparent to the Swarm.

--

As more and more Swarm reached the rendezvous Ancient Class outside the Riken Star System, the Riken Race's deployment changed.

They began moving all movable deployments along the asteroid belt into the galaxy.

The scope of this "all" is surprisingly large.

Rowan once saw, through the perspective of the Overseer, that they used warships to tow back some asteroids with diameters of ten kilometers, on which there were base fortresses built by the Riken Race.

The Swarm did not stop them, which puzzled the Riken Race had been living in constant fear and tension. But this was a good thing; they did not intend to investigate further lest they anger the Swarm.

Two years later, the Riken Race had left almost nothing behind in the asteroid belt, except for a lot of observation devices to keep an eye on the Swarm.

Through the Intellect, Rowan learned that the Riken Race's plan was to use planets as a base to disperse the Swarm's forces. Then, they would set up steel defenses on Liwen Planet and Liwu Planet to slowly wear down the Swarm's fighting strength.

It seems the Riken Race intends to wage a protracted war.

Rowan somewhat disagreed with this.

When it comes to war potential, the Riken Race can't even come close to the Swarm.

For the Riken Race, where each member is an independent and intelligent individual, not all members are prepared to fight to the death against outsiders.

For decades, the Riken Race have been warlike and aggressive, investing most of the wealth created by civilization into war preparations. Members of the tribe live on minimal rations, and entertainment is virtually nonexistent.

This situation would be manageable for a year or two, as everyone would understand given the life-or-death crisis. However, the fact that war hadn't broken out and the threat hadn't materialized was making some hedonistic members impatient.

Even after the Swarm reached beyond the star system, once this sentiment arose, it was difficult to extinguish. The near-riot a few years ago over the Life-Extending Serum was instigated by these very people.

Furthermore, the amount of wealth the Riken Race spend on their army each year requires a public vote, and the plan can only be implemented after obtaining the consent of the majority, which consumes an astonishing amount of additional manpower and resources.

This is only a small part of the process; the complicated procedures are involved in every aspect, which will not be discussed in detail here.

On the other hand, the Swarm was completely under Rowan's control. If Rowan said to go to war, there would be no dissent. All resources began to be allocated according to Rowan's will, and all Swarm units would execute the orders without complaint or delay.

Moreover, the Swarm has already seized control of the resources of two star systems. Riken Race want to outlast the Swarm in a war of attrition and in terms of war potential, Rowan can only laugh it off.