Coveting

Withdrawing an entire force from a star system is a very troublesome matter, because occupying a star system inevitably requires building a large number of infrastructure facilities and settling a large population.

Normally, it would take a civilization nearly a hundred years to evacuate a star system that has been occupied for hundreds of years. If they wanted to evacuate completely, even a hundred years wouldn't be enough.

The Epoch Clan gave the Swarm twenty years, a time limit that itself seemed deliberately difficult, but it might also have other motives, such as not giving the Swarm enough time to withdraw and leaving something behind.

However, the Swarm's personnel and unit structure are different from those of civilizations that follow mechanical routes, so their relocation speed is naturally different as well.

The Swarm doesn't have a large number of "individuals" to carry on, nor does it need to dismantle colonies. If it didn't need Creep and those fixed defensive structures, the Swarm could embark on a long journey in just a few days.

But since the Epoch Clan has given them twenty years, the Swarm will naturally make full use of it.

However, as the Swarm began to move, a large number of observation devices appeared around several Swarm bases, including Laze Planet, Chuyun Planet, and near the orbit of a star.

They belong to different factions and civilizations, but share the same goal: to uncover more of the Swarm 'Swarm secrets while they are migrating. At such times, some crucial information is bound to be exposed, something the Swarm cannot completely avoid; they can only try their best to conceal it.

The Swarm's space units and facilities are almost all derived from or at least compatible with Creep. Moving at this point, fixed-ground Electromagnetic Cannon and Energy Cannon can be integrated onto the Space Octopus, as these are too large and numerous to be easily concealed.

But it doesn't matter. Even a mechanical route could accomplish this level of skill; it's nothing special.

All the underground units were retrieved and never shown in the open again; even the Insect Empress was retrieved. The materials retrieved were then used to create the Space Octopus.

As for the Creep, Rowan hesitated for a moment. He originally planned to leave it there, wondering if he could get away with it. But then he thought that even if he left the Creep, the Ji Epoch Clan and the other tribes wouldn't treat it as a native natural plant. They would definitely dissect and study it, and if the Creep's genes collapsed, it would definitely be exposed. It would be better to just remove it all.

The Creep slowly retracted underground and then recycled itself, transforming all the energy into Space Octopus.

Of course, evacuation is impossible. Deep within the planet's crust, there are still many Creep Seed and Insect Empress Egg buried. They are all condensed, ultra-microscopic versions with top-notch concealment abilities, making them many times more difficult to find than finding a needle in a haystack for anyone other than Rowan.

Finally, all that remained were the underground structures. Over hundreds of years, the Swarm had woven a vast network of caves beneath these planets. Because much of the material had been absorbed, it was impossible to restore it to its original state. Fortunately, as the Creep retreated, most areas lost their support and slowly collapsed, but some structures still stubbornly persisted.

Rowan could only try to destroy and bury them. As time went by, the planets, which had turned purplish-gray, slowly began to fade and return to their original colors. However, a large number of depressions and even basins appeared on the surface, all caused by the collapse of underground caves.

Rowan's prediction was correct. After the Riken Race were changed, the Swarm silent and complied with them. In addition, because the Swarm handled the situation well, there were no new pretexts for them to continue attacking. As a result, the number of people paying attention to the conflict between the Swarm and the Riken gradually decreased, and the hype also subsided.

But Rowan also understood that this was only a temporary calm, and perhaps soon a new round of trouble would arrive.

But things took a turn for the worse than Rowan had anticipated. Perhaps there were multiple forces plotting behind the scenes, and they were also vying for power among themselves, which prevented one of them from taking advantage of the situation to pursue the attack.

Thus, the Swarm lived peacefully for nearly twenty years, until the deadline given by the Epoch Clan was about to expire.

Over the years, the Swarm has gradually withdrawn 60% of its forces from the Riken Star System. The bases on several geological planets have been almost completely relocated, while a large number of troops remain at the planetary near-orbit bases.

Although planetary near-orbit bases float in star orbit and lack underground structures, they should be able to evacuate more quickly. However, don't forget that there are Swarm Megastructure here.

When the rules of the Epoch Clan were modified, the Megastructure here had already grown to a size of over three thousand kilometers, and there were two of them. If this were a mechanical structure, it would be impossible to dismantle it in less than a hundred or two hundred years.

Although Rowan could quickly decompose and recycle it, there was no planetary surface to shield it here, and the completely exposed view made it impossible for it to hide any of its actions.

In order to conceal some of the Swarm's secrets, Rowan had to slow down and use the Space Octopus to pretend to dismantle it, which is why the largest number of troops remained here.

However, with the deadline fast approaching, the dismantling work is not progressing well; at most, less than a third of the Megastructure has disappeared. Completely dismantling it in the remaining time is undoubtedly wishful thinking.

Over the past twenty years, the number of alien species in the Riken Star System has multiplied several times over. They look at the Megastructure Swarm in near-star orbit with barely a hint of envy.

"It seems the Zerg aren't going to be able to take this big guy away."

"Heh, the Epoch Clan only gave us this much time; they're probably also eyeing this big guy."

"Hmph, this is entirely the Swarm's own doing. Such a massive creation—let alone the outer sphere, even the old civilizations of the middle and inner spheres—few could build it."

"Indeed, look at these guys around us, how many of them are just trying to pick up the scraps?"

The reason why Megastructure are so rare is not because those civilizations lacked the resources to build them. For civilizations capable of colonizing other star systems, mining asteroids is a basic requirement. The various minerals that are scarce on their Mother Planet are not difficult to find in the vast cosmos.

But such a colossal creation cannot be simply built by piling up resources. The larger its volume, the greater its own gravity. How to maintain the gravitational balance of its various parts and prevent it from collapsing inward is a complex science. And this is only the most basic level, but it is this basic level that has blocked most civilizations.

The Swarm's Megastructure is undoubtedly a successful creation. Although some parts have been dismantled, its value remains undiminished. While other technologies are easy to conceal, data on its skeletal armor, supporting structures, and other information can be collected through measurement and other means.

This is why, as the deadline approaches, more and more people are heading to the Riken Star System. They just need to go in, take some pictures, and they might gain a lot of inspiration.