Discovery

The Duoqi Race is much slower than expected, and Rowan already knows the reason: an Intellect whose prototype is the Duoqi captain provided an important piece of information.

Those were the three strange ships that the Swarm had previously ambushed and destroyed in the asteroid belt, one of which was a very important communications vessel. Without its equipment, the Duoqi Third Prince had to use conventional communication methods to request reinforcements from the swarm.

However, conventional communication methods involve directional broadcasting in one direction, which allows even some civilian devices to receive this information. Although encrypted, if this is cracked, it would be a huge blow to the reputation of the Duoqi Race.

Therefore, the Duoqi Race will not adopt this method. Moreover, the proud third prince is most likely still struggling with whether or not to admit defeat, which further delays the process.

However, Rowan was happy to see this happen, and even secretly instructed the network of connections within the Riken Race to secretly export some grain to the Duoqi Race to help them hold out for a while longer.

Finally, after five years of holding out and realizing he couldn't gain any advantage, Dialo, under the watchful eyes of the Dark Overseer, withdrew the remaining Duoqi fleet from the Riken Star System. Then, a small squadron of ten warships broke away from the main force and flew towards Duoqi Race territory, while the remaining warships floated in the void, waiting silently.

Rowan Wen immediately guessed what was going on: the third prince probably wouldn't dare go back. If he did, he would likely be used to vent his anger, and there would be no chance for him to recover. It was better to wait here and try to redeem himself.

Secondly, their reserves were insufficient to support the entire fleet's return. Dialo had truly held on until he was completely exhausted before he had no choice but to ask for help from his tribe. On those warships left behind, there were probably not many Duoqi People still conscious; most had entered hibernation.

Although Rowan knew their location, he didn't intend to launch a surprise attack. This was because the Duoqi Race had deployed numerous early warning devices around the fleet, and their reason for lingering in the void was to minimize interference. Even if Ancient Class cloaked being ejected, it would still be detected by Gravity Radar.

Since that's the case, it's better not to alert the enemy and instead focus on developing our own capabilities.

According to normal estimates, a round trip would take the Duoqi Race at least forty years, which theoretically is quite ample time. However, Rowan was not so optimistic. Not to mention that without the communication ship, Dialo's side could not contact his mother race. But his mother race could not contact Dialo either. A fleet that had been inactive should have some kind of reaction, right?

Secondly, this star system is still under the surveillance of the Epoch Clan. Although it is unknown where the Epoch Clan's communication equipment is hidden, they should exist. If they cause any trouble, Rowan would not be surprised at all.

That's certainly true.

Twenty years have passed.

"Overlord Majesty, we have discovered an alien fleet; it is quite large."

Rowan closed his eyes slightly. At this time, Duoqi's messenger fleet had probably just arrived in their territory, so the problem definitely wasn't with the Riken Race.

The problem lies on the other side of the Swarm territory, where a massive fleet is slowly approaching.

In the boundless universe, a massive Vortex Galaxy appears still, radiating light—beautiful, magnificent, and grand. But if we could fast-forward tens or even hundreds of millions of years countless times, we would see its three dazzling spiral arms slowly rotating around the galactic center.

Hundreds of billions of stars dot the landscape, arranged in perfect order. Zooming in, on the outer side of the second arm, one of countless stars stands out— the Origin of the Swarm. Surrounding it are a ring of stars, each with its own name; among them, the two bright spots at the 11 o'clock position are stars from the Proxima Star System.

The galaxy at 2 o'clock is the Underground River Star System, the Black God Star System, the Red Ant Star System, the galaxy near 6 o'clock is the White Grub Star System, the galaxy at 8 o'clock is the Big Horn Star System, and the galaxy between 9 and 10 o'clock is the Sandstorm Star System.

Their naming conventions are distinctly Rowan's: simple, practical, and easy to understand.

The Underground River Star System commemorates the underground river that Rowan, when he was still the size of a fingernail, spent months climbing. The Black God Star System commemorates the Black Armored "War God". The Red Ant need no introduction, and the White Grub were the earliest creatures to work for Rowan.

The Big Horn was a type of insect that Rowan once greatly admired. Their representative insect was a handsome beetle with a golden body. Rowan had originally planned to get such a cool skin, but plans don't always go as expected. Due to various reasons, the plan was shelved, but Rowan always kept it in mind.

The Sandstorm was to commemorate Rowan's first flight, an extremely dangerous and exciting journey. If Rowan hadn't had such an impressive background, he might have perished. Although it's nothing compared to Rowan's current achievements, it still left a deep impression on his young mind at the time.

Since landing on the Yellow Moon, the Swarm have been venturing into the cosmos for over two hundred years. Although Proxima Star System was chosen as a priority for development due to its proximity to the Origin Star System, and the discovery of Godzilla subsequently triggered a war with the Riken Race, diverting much of their attention to this area, the Swarm have not given up exploring other directions.

Over the years, the Swarm had already landed in all the neighboring star systems. However, at that time, limited by the number of the main body and the Mother Nest, it did not develop much. This situation continued until the Swarm Network evolved again. After that, the development of the Swarm was no longer limited by the main body and the Mother Nest. Any Node Unit, given sufficient energy, could mutate into Insect Empress.

But by then, Rowan already had a hunch about the Chess Player, so although the expansion was no longer restricted, most of the Swarm's strength in those star systems was still hidden beneath the rocky layers of those geological planets.

Until twenty years ago, the appearance of the Duoqi Intellect brought new information. Rowan understood the true identity of the Chess Player. After careful consideration, a large number of Larval Form and small Mature Form were released and continuously transported by the Ancient Class to nearby stars to lie dormant. Meanwhile, the Space Octopus, which had already reached a certain level, remained hidden.

Although there was no specific star map, the presence of Duoqi Intellect whose original forms were Captain Dogi still gave Rowan some idea of his surrounding neighbors.

In fact, the location of the Swarm is already considered an extremely remote area compared to the Star Sea Alliance. The Earth River and Black God star systems behind the Origin Star System are already outside the Star Sea Alliance's sphere of influence, and further outwards, they are even unclaimed star systems.

However, the Sandstorm, Big Horn, and White Grub Star System, including Proxima and Riken Star System, are bordering foreign territories because they face the Star Sea Alliance.

Thank you to Useless Halo for the 500 Qidian Coins donation, Abyss Order for the 100 Qidian Coins donation.