The Third Party

Rowan had essentially accomplished his basic strategic objectives in the war against the Riken Race.

Without third-party involvement, things continue to unfold. Once the Swarm settles in the direction of the star and develops its infrastructure, it will destroy the Riken Race's Light Sail facilities.

This rudimentary Dyson Sphere device supplied the Riken Race with a large amount of clean energy. If this place were destroyed, more than 60% of the high-energy-consuming weapons on the Mother Planet's defense line would likely be rendered useless after only a few days of high-intensity warfare.

The Wenwu Twin Stars defense system will also be affected to some extent.

When the Riken Race's firepower runs out, the Swarm will not wipe them out in one fell swoop, nor will it negotiate with them. Instead, it will simply conduct close-range patrols of the Riken Mother Planet as a routine operation.

The close-range oppression from the alien race will rapidly spread the escalating fear. They may attempt to attack, but the overwhelming power of the Swarm will teach them a lesson.

Because of the previous attempts to persuade them to surrender, the desperate Riken Race will not fight to the death, but will instead ask the council to negotiate with the Swarm. However, the Zerg's non-contact attitude leaves the Riken Race puzzled.

The continued inaction of the parliament will turn the fear of the people of Ricken into anger, and they need an outlet for it. Speaker Antonio will find that his so-called power is now useless, and he will become a scapegoat, bearing the brunt of the people's wrath.

A new leader, Riken, will be elected. He will successfully make contact with the Zerg, and the Zerg's relatively lenient terms of surrender will bring his reputation to its peak.

In reality, through this transformation, half of the Riken leadership has been replaced by Zerg Intellect. These Riken were developed by the Chloe Family over many years, and the reasonable seven-day quarantine period has kept their numbers small.

However, the real operation begins next.

The first people injected with the Life-Extending Serum were mostly high-ranking officials and wealthy merchants. The Life-Extending Serum extended their lives by fifty years. After they died, they would be transformed into Intellect and then "reborn" into the Riken Race through legitimate means.

They will start "their lives" anew from childhood. With memories of their "past lives," their rich life experiences and accumulated knowledge will enable them to stand out in various fields.

Their numbers far surpass those of the Intellect forcibly transformed in seven days.

A century from now, when these Intellect once again ascend to the pinnacle of power, more than half of the high-ranking officials in politics, the military, and business will be Intellect. At that point, it will only be a matter of time before the Swarm completely takes control of the Riken Race.

If left to natural evolution, given the Riken Race's long lifespan, it might take thousands of years for the Riken Race like the Rat-folk, where the higher-ups are all Intellect in disguise, and ordinary Reken become breeding tools, continuously providing high-quality materials for the Swarm. If we take a more radical approach, combined with a seven-day forced transformation, this timeframe could be shortened further.

But in any case, for a long-lived being, either way is acceptable.

Rowan was initially conflicted about which option to choose. However, considering the watchful eyes of the third party, Rowan ultimately opted for the former. While gaining complete control over the Riken Race in a short period was appealing, excessive seven-day forced conversions could easily expose some problems, especially with a third-party Chess Player present.

While gradual evolution and infiltration require more time, it is safer and leaves no trace. As long as the Chess Player need the Riken Race to continue to exist, this plan is destined to succeed.

As planned, the Swarm had occupied Second Planet of the Ricken Star System and their corresponding orbits was now ready to begin attacking the Light Sail power grids, but a new discovery has temporarily halted all Swarm actions.

Outside the Riken Star System, the Overseer disguised as meteorites in the void discovered an approaching fleet.

The Overseer in the void only absorb radiation to maintain their most basic needs, and usually rely solely on ordinary Optical Observation to observe their surroundings. This makes them not generate any energy fluctuations, just like real meteorites, and they do not attract any attention.

However, the downside is that the units they observe are usually very close to them. Of course, they don't rely on performance to win, but on sheer numbers, and early warning is only a side job; their main job is to spread nodes and extend the coverage of the Swarm Network.

Because of its extremely advanced technology, this fleet could travel at speeds exceeding half the speed of light in the void.

Ordinary Optical Observation of Overseer has an effective observation distance of only about one light-year, and these fleets are only slightly slower than the speed of light.

This means that when the Overseer discover them, they are less than five months away from the Overseer.

However, five months is enough time to make some preparations.

Any technological path is complementary; the newly emerged third party surpassed the Swarm and the Riken Race in spaceship speed, and the same is true in other aspects.

The cloaking coating of the unknown materials made them transparent to the radars of both races; otherwise, they might have been detected light-years away. However, it was precisely because they were closer that Rowan obtained more information. Some things can be hidden, such as the spaceship's energy system, circuitry, and software, while others cannot be hidden.

Their technological path is very clear: their cold yet aesthetically pleasing mechanical creations make it obvious from their appearance that they belong to a mechanical technological civilization.

Their warships are generally over 1,500 meters long, and many even exceed 2,000 meters. It's important to understand that these mechanical creations aren't simply made to be as large as desired; each increase in size raises the manufacturing difficulty to a new level. If the technology is inadequate and manufacturing is forced, the problems might not be apparent under normal circumstances, but during high-intensity combat or high-speed flight, they could disintegrate on their own without enemy intervention.

Regarding weaponry, although the warships have obvious gun barrel structures, it's unclear what kind of system they use. However, based on some details, the relevant Intellect suggests that they are more likely using energy-based weapons. After all, carrying energy blocks is easier than carrying physical shells when traveling long distances.

Regarding the engine, the technology used by the newly emerged third party is very similar to that of the Riken Race, which can be seen from the overall structure and shape, as well as the smoke and fire emitted. They are at most an upgraded version, not a completely new theoretical system.

Observation systems like radar are designed to be concealed, so they are not easily detectable.

While this configuration surpasses the technological level of the Riken Race, it doesn't actually fit Rowan's vision of Chess Player.