Chapter 466: LKDW291
Northwest of the Riken Star System, approximately 9.6 light-years away, lies the border of the Daqi civilization’s territory. However, in between is an unclaimed star system with the designation LKDW291.
Although the Swarm operated without formal recognition, the Riken people were once registered with the Ji race and thus protected under their internal rules. These rules prohibited established powers from interfering in nearby star systems, such as the Neighboring Star System and LKDW291.
However, fifty years after the Rikens joined the Interstellar Technological Confederation, this protection expired automatically. Seizing the opportunity, the Daqi civilization, which bordered LKDW291, dispatched military and engineering teams to the system in an attempt to claim it and expand their territory.
Unfortunately, this fledgling star system, still in its early stages of development, soon faced a far more formidable colonizer.
When the Swarm began making moves, the Daqi forces stationed there immediately commenced an emergency evacuation. They took everything they could, destroyed what they couldn’t, and planted various hidden mines to try and create trouble for the Swarm.
At the end of Year Ten of the New Era, the Swarm’s vanguard arrived at the LKDW291 Star System, only to be greeted by a scene of utter desolation. Orbiting several planets were large amounts of wreckage and abandoned construction debris, among which lay concealed explosives of varying power.
The vanguard ignored the space debris and instead spread out across the star system to search for hidden surveillance devices. The Swarm, experienced in dealing with such concealed threats, employed specialized functional organisms capable of precisely capturing signals across relevant frequencies to locate these devices.
As follow-up forces gradually arrived, the Swarm increased the number of units dedicated to detection and began clearing the debris.
Primordial bodies opened their storage sacs, releasing a massive number of larval and mature bodies. These units deftly maneuvered through the wreckage, searching for suspicious explosives.