The Swarm Has Many Oddballs

"What should we do?"

Lu Shang closed his eyes and connected to the swarm network, observing the interstellar battlefield around Kao Star, where fierce fighting had taken place not long ago, through the sensory organs of the planetary organisms.

Countless fragments of space debris floated across the battlefield. The most numerous were molten planetary fragments, scattering outward like fireworks.

There was actually little left to investigate in this space battlefield, because the enemy had already announced what Lu Shang wanted to know to the public, and Lu Shang had learned it through his intelligence network.

The many planetary organisms stationed here had simply not received Lu Shang's order to withdraw.

Lu Shang was now considering how to defend against the Galactic Alliance's weapons that could trigger the formation of microscopic black holes.

Black holes were the most extreme matter in the universe, without exception. No amount of psychic power could destroy such terrifying things. At least, planetary organisms could not do so. At most, they could use psychic power to throw away a black hole with relatively little mass.

Actually, if the Galactic Alliance fleet only launched a small number of microscopic black holes, Lu Shang was not particularly afraid. At worst, he could use psychic power to hurl the microscopic black holes away while they devoured planetary matter.

If microscopic black holes could not consume matter, they would naturally evaporate and disappear.

But the Galactic Alliance fleet's weapon seemed capable of continuously creating microscopic black holes near celestial bodies. Combined with an entire fleet firing in unison, that was deadly.

"Should I go find the swarm's new Overlord and ask for a brain template? I remember the main brain saying that the new Overlord could wield level-twelve psychic power..."

Lu Shang muttered to himself, then shook his head and rejected the idea.

"No, it's completely unworkable. It only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. Raising the level merely extends the range of psychic influence. Although level-twelve psychic power can reach farther, its effective range is still limited. The enemy fleet can simply keep its distance and trigger microscopic black holes from farther away."

The effective range of level-twelve psychic power was certainly greater than that of level-ten psychic power.

But it was only greater. A level-twelve psychic brain also had a limit to its range, and the Galactic Alliance fleet could simply hide farther away and continuously trigger the formation of microscopic black holes.

At most, a level-twelve psychic brain could use its greater range to catch the enemy off guard in a battle, and then...

And then there would be no then. The enemy was not brainless.

After thinking for a long time without finding a feasible direction, Lu Shang asked through the swarm network.

"...What do you think about the Galactic Alliance's black hole-triggering weapon?"

The swarm organisms that had been busy under Lu Shang's command suddenly froze in unison, then a flood of information came back through the psychic network.

"Watch quietly."

"No, no, we should watch from up close. That way we can see more clearly."

"Being close is dangerous. We should watch from a distance."

Smack!

Lu Shang slapped his forehead, both annoyed and amused. "I'm asking what good methods you have for dealing with the Galactic Alliance's black hole attacks, not how you would observe the enemy's weapon."

"I need you to use your brains too and give me some ideas."

After that explanation, the direction of the answers in the swarm network immediately changed.

"Grow thicker shells."

Lu Shang was speechless. Was a planetary crust not thicker than the shell on your body?

He covered his forehead. "Intelligence in arrears. Next."

"Add lots of spikes."

Lu Shang's eye twitched slightly. "Meaning unclear. Next."

"We can try eating the black holes."

After thinking it over, Lu Shang kindly offered this swarm organism a suggestion. "Your brain probably developed a problem during incubation. I suggest you find a nearby hive for an examination. Next."

He did not know which swarm individual it was that answered his question. Just as he was beginning to feel numb, one individual suddenly replied.

"Expand perception."

In an instant, Lu Shang felt the fog that had been troubling his mind disperse.

Lu Shang immediately slammed a fist into his palm. "Right, that's the direction! If perception isn't enough, then expand it!"

"We need perception that exceeds the speed of light. Once we have that, all attacks that travel at light speed will become useless."

The Galactic Alliance's light-speed weapons relied on the swarm's perception being limited by the speed of light, leaving it unable to detect incoming attacks early enough to defend against them.

According to the swarm's memories, the fastest attacks of the Galactic Alliance only traveled at the speed of light. If the swarm could expand its perception beyond light speed, it would be a dimensionality-reduction strike against every Galactic Alliance civilization!

Lu Shang already had an idea of how to do it. Time was of the essence, so he immediately issued an order to the swarm.

"All hives, edit your genes. I need you to design a biological organism."

"This organism has only one design requirement: it must be extremely small. The smaller, the better. Beyond that, there are no other requirements."

The planetary hives that had been incubating other swarm individuals began busily designing and hatching their new kin...

Banner Union Sector, red dwarf system.

After the fleet commanded by Beint returned from the fallen sector of the Dias Empire as heroes, it received orders from its superiors to undergo repairs and further modifications here.

The fleet commanded by Beint was a prototype model. Its safety and the reliability of its systems still needed improvement.

Besides determining the combat approach against the mutated swarm in the fallen zone, the Battle of Kao Star had also served to gather battlefield data.

Around the red dwarf was a ring of artificial machinery orbiting it. These machines continuously extracted stellar matter from the red dwarf and fed it into a vast cluster of artificial machinery. After a series of complex rough and precision processing stages, enormous warships were steadily sent down the production line like canned goods from a cannery.

The Galactic Alliance had already confirmed the effective striking capabilities of its new equipment. All that remained was to continuously plunder stellar matter and expand their numbers in the shortest possible time.

There were countless stellar factories like this throughout the vast Galactic Alliance, scattered across every corner of the galaxy.

Whenever the Galactic Alliance needed them, it would rapidly expand its forces, then drown its enemies beneath an overwhelming numerical advantage.

Come to think of it, the Galactic Alliance's strategic thinking had been influenced by the Babel Swarm.

On past battlefields, the countless swarm individuals that outnumbered their own forces had truly driven the Galactic Alliance's military commanders to despair.

Had it not been for industrial innovation and technological progress, the Galactic Alliance's member powers would have perished long ago.

With some free time to rest, Beint walked along the observation deck with the supervisor of the war-machine complex. From their position, they could clearly see the countless warships arranged neatly within the space warehouses, packed together so densely that the sight was dizzying.

The supervisor activated a projected blueprint of the warship and introduced it to Beint, who was visiting. "We've made further improvements to the internal structure of the new warships and optimized their kinetic defenses. In particular, the reactors installed in the gravity interdiction ships have undergone structural adjustments. Even if they suffer penetrating damage at near-light speed, they will no longer be as prone to sympathetic explosions as they were during the Battle of Kao Star."

"Before long, every fleet in the Alliance will be equipped with these high-performance weapons."