Reconnaissance

On the other side, in the Riken Star System, the two Megastructure of the Swarm self-destructed and crashed into their star, successfully destroying themselves without leaving a trace for the onlookers.

However, the Swarm's repetitive and redundant actions, which seemed pointless, still attracted the attention of some observant individuals. As they continued to examine the data they had just collected, they discovered that some energy seemed to have vanished without a trace.

These unusual data points caused some disagreement among those interested. Some believed the Swarm must have done something and it was necessary to question Swarm. Others thought it was possible the data was erroneous due to the proximity to the star. Furthermore, even if the Swarm had done something, they argued there was no need to make a big deal out of it, as the Swarm were unlikely to cause any serious trouble.

Rowan was unaware of these arguments, and naturally, he was also unaware of their outcome. He simply followed his established plan step by step.

Due to the uncertainty surrounding the situation in the new star system, the Swarm accelerated its withdrawal after the two Megastructure self-destructed.

More than 60% of the forces in the Riken Star System had already withdrawn in advance, but because their withdrawal was spread out over more than a decade, in small batches and multiple times, and they were using Optical Camouflage, many outsiders still had no idea of the size of the Swarm.

At this moment, the Stellar Near-Orbit Base, Riken Star System remained, had previously huddled together sunbathing, attracting little attention. But now, they were making a concentrated retreat, with densely packed Ancient Class soldiers leaving in ranks, the endless ranks stretching across millions of kilometers. This allowed many people to truly witness the power of the Swarm for the first time.

"What a terrifying race."

"I think we made a mistake."

We shouldn't have provoked them.

Similar sentiments were frequently expressed, especially by members of the Koya Alliance. Of course, there were also dissenting voices.

"What's there to be afraid of? When it comes to technological leaps, quantity is meaningless!" A member of the foreign tribe said with a hint of disdain.

"That's right!" a supporter echoed.

Of course, most of these sarcastic remarks come from races far from the Swarm territory. As long as the Swarm do not master efficient navigation methods, their numbers pose no threat to them.

At the same time, some foreign tribes did not utter meaningless exclamations, but instead raised some substantive questions.

"What kind of social structure do they have? It seems capable of converting a large portion of their GDP into war potential."

"Indeed, how can such a militaristic and warlike race still have Royal Court? Won't their people oppose it?"

"Perhaps their Royal Court has deceived those foolish people."

"It seems necessary to introduce them to advanced ideologies."

"That's true."

Some of the conspiracies and schemes were thus devised, but in order to implement these plans, they first had to find civilians within the Swarm.

After withdrawing from the Riken Star System, the Swarm once again fell silent. Apart from the trading city in the Sandstorm Star System, which was still operating to a limited extent, the rest of the Swarm territory was almost completely closed off, falling into a state of "isolation."

Even as the Star Sea Alliance news offered another round of sarcastic remarks about the Swarm's "backing down" attitude, the Swarm remained completely silent.

It takes two to tango, Swarm's posture rendered many subsequent conspiracies and schemes seem like they were hitting cotton. The Swarm's enthusiasm gradually cooled, replaced by new and exciting things. The real mastermind behind the scenes also seemed to need some time to prepare its next move, and thus, an eerie calm descended upon the area surrounding the Swarm.

Rowan finally had time to properly explore the new star system.

--

Before the Scout Bug even emerged from the mud and sand of the seabed, they sensed something amiss: intense vibrations were coming from above. For such vibrations to occur in the deep sea, it must have been caused by some enormous creature. And judging from the frequency of the vibrations, there were quite a few of them.

This made the scout bugs even more cautious. They slowed down and carefully continued climbing. Although they were inconspicuous, they could not afford to be exposed in the slightest. Once discovered, their incompatible physical structure and circulatory system would certainly bring unnecessary danger to the Swarm.

As they approached the seabed, the scout worms discovered some native creatures hiding under the mud and sand. However, due to their small size and fear of making a noise, they carefully avoided these native creatures and quietly poked their heads out from the seabed.

Because there is no light on the seabed, these scout worms use sonar systems in addition to Optical Observation systems when selecting gene modules. Many underwater creatures have similar organs, and the Swarm's several Life Star have provided tens of thousands of sonar organs for its gene pool. Rowan can easily assemble one that is suitable for the current situation.

However, to Rowan's surprise, the Optical Observation, which he had initially thought would be of little use, actually gathered information first. On the seabed, more than a dozen Mecha Warrior covered in lights, several Submarine, and numerous small underwater robots were wandering around, seemingly searching for something. This was the first scene that appeared before Rowan.

Those vibrations were emitted by these dozen or so Mecha Warrior.

Rowan was only slightly taken aback by these massive steel structures. After all, he was quite experienced, and these steel structures tens of meters tall were nothing special to him. Moreover, he had long suspected that intelligent life existed here, so he wasn't too surprised.

However, the scene before him gave him a conflicted feeling. He pondered for a while before finally realizing what was wrong.

The Swarm is no longer the primitive race that used to play in the mud. Through contact with other races, the Swarm database contains many samples of alien technology. By observing and analyzing the external structure, manufacturing process, fluidity of movement, turning, and even scratches on the body of the other's creations, they can deduce the general level of the other's technology.

These steel constructs in front of him clearly did not match the image of an advanced civilization capable of creating artificial wormholes in Rowan's mind.

However, Rowan didn't make any rash moves; perhaps he simply liked this retro style. I remember a movie about Blue Star depicting a great battle that determined the survival of half the universe's population, and most of it involved head-on charges and close-quarters combat.

Perhaps there are other advanced civilizations in this universe with similar preferences. For one thing, the Swarm's combat units, whether they run on land, swim in water, or fly in the sky, all retain formidable close-quarters combat capabilities.

If the Star Sea Alliance dared to forgo ranged weapons and rely solely on melee combat, the Swarm might already be capable of wiping out the entire the Alliance, including the Epoch Clan.

Of course, such a good thing is best left as a dream.

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