I Am The Swarm

Chapter 329: Counterattack

“There aren’t many asteroids left. Most of them are now concentrated at the outskirts of the star system and in Planet Izumo’s orbit, both areas currently occupied by the Swarm. Even though we hauled away a significant number of asteroids when we evacuated from Planet Izumo, it hasn’t been enough to sustain such heavy consumption. Additionally, producing those components is straining the capacity of our space factories. Just the recent round of base replacements severely slowed down our warship production,” a Riken officer reported gravely.

“This won’t work. At this rate, the Swarm won’t even need to attack us—we’ll wear ourselves out first!”

“And this is only the current situation. Their firepower output points are increasing rapidly. In Planet Izumo’s orbit, we’ve identified two Swarm constructs that are growing daily. We don’t know what they’re for, but it’s safe to assume they’re bad news for us.”

“Is there any good news?” someone asked.

“Well, we’ve confirmed that the Swarm’s Space Octopuses grow over time. They can evolve from 10-meter-class to 100-meter-class, and from there to 500-meter-class. Although we noticed signs of this growth back in the asteroid belt, it wasn’t as apparent then. Now, we can finally confirm it.”

“…”

“I don’t think that’s good news.”

“Agreed.”

“So, are you saying that if we let time drag on, we’ll end up facing an endless tide of 500-meter-class Space Octopuses?”

“That’s not entirely accurate.”

“Oh? What’s incorrect?”

“Five-hundred meters isn’t their limit. To be precise, we may eventually face Space Octopuses exceeding 1,000 meters.”

“Hah, what a delightful surprise. If this news gets out and the Swarm opens up a surrender hotline, the phones would undoubtedly explode with calls.”

“Shut up! Don’t let me hear such morale-damaging nonsense again!”

“Hmph.”

The Rikens bickered noisily. The overwhelming pressure brought by the Swarm had kept them on edge for so long that it was taking a toll on their mental stability.

“Is there any way we can cause them some trouble?” Hamis finally brought the discussion back to a constructive track.

“It’s difficult. Our energy weapons may have a fast firing rate, but their range has always been a weakness. We can’t hit Planet Izumo from here. Missiles are an option, but they’re costly, easy to intercept, and not cost-effective,” a Riken weapons officer answered after some thought.

“Can’t we build electromagnetic railguns too?”

“President Antonio has already assigned the re