Marcus steadily advanced with his Tyranid Warbeasts into the Crew Deck, systematically clearing out the Necromorphs as they went. Soon, they arrived at a dimly lit hall. The area was filled with the corpses of Unified Church members, who had seemingly committed mass suicide. The walls were covered with various strange symbols drawn in blood, and magic circles adorned the floor, with bodies arranged like sacrifices in their center.
If an ordinary person were to witness such a scene, they would likely lose their sanity and flee in terror. But Marcus remained calm, using his Psychic Flying Knife to strike a "Spreader" – a bat-like creature – hiding on the ceiling. The Spreader stiffened, then plummeted to the ground, where it was immediately dissolved by a Spore Mine, leaving no trace. This creature was responsible for constantly converting other Necromorphs, transforming them into more dangerous variants like Slashers.
"Clean this up," Marcus commanded. The Spore Beast spewed out more Spore Mines, quickly dissolving all the Necromorphs in the room, preventing any further conversions.
Approaching a still-lit screen, Marcus reached out and wiped away the dried bloodstains. What played on it was footage of miners on the Aegis V colony unearthing the Red Marker. Looking at the Red Marker on the screen, Marcus began to recall his understanding of its nature.
The Marker, in the Dead Space universe, was a construct deployed onto various planets by a higher alien life form. There were two types: the Red Marker, replicated by humans through reverse engineering, and the original Black Marker, deployed by the alien civilization itself. Earth, in the Dead Space worldview, possessed an original Black Marker.
The impact wave generated when it landed had directly caused the extinction of the dinosaurs sixty million years ago, leading to the eventual rise of humanity. The alien civilization that deployed these Markers was certainly not a benevolent entity seeking to enlighten other intelligent races.
To some extent, the alien civilization behind the Markers had a similar effect to the Tyranids. However, while the Tyranids devoured all biomass in their path, the Markers aggregated all biological matter into Necromorphs, ultimately forming a planetary-sized ultimate creation—the Blood Moon. A newly formed Blood Moon would then transmit coordinate signals to other dormant Blood Moons across the universe, allowing them to arrive in its star system through some form of jump, to jointly consume more corpses and strengthen the entire race. This process of Necromorphs aggregating into a Blood Moon was what the Unified Church followers obsessively referred to as "Convergence." Those influenced by the Marker believed that Convergence would allow them to merge with the deceased, reuniting in a higher heaven.
"It's a bit like the Genestealer Cult," Marcus mumbled to himself, "except one is influenced by the Great Devourer, and the other by the Marker."
Passing through the now-cleaned hall, Marcus soon saw the Red Marker, restrained within a mechanical containment device. The moment he laid eyes on the Marker, Marcus felt whispers in his ears, accompanied by a slight dizziness. In his perception, the superfluous matter surrounding the Red Marker seemed to come alive, twisting and reaching out to him.
Marcus, familiar with the Marker's abilities, stood still and unmoving. He then opened his system panel and summoned the zoanthrope and the neurothrope. The summoned zoanthrope immediately let out a psychic shriek, dispelling the whispers in Marcus's ears and the illusions in his eyes. Subsequently, a green psychic shield enveloped Marcus's body, blocking the Marker's mental influence. As for the other Tyranid Warbeasts present, there was no sign of them being affected by the Marker at all.
After his mind stabilized slightly, Marcus slowly walked towards the Red Marker. As he drew closer, he could clearly see the blood-red, strange symbols etched onto its surface. After observing it up close for a while, Marcus retreated to a safe distance. He wasn't the type to court death; a close look at the Marker was sufficient. Directly touching it was out of the question.
Looking at the Red Marker before him, Marcus surmised that the next stage of his system mission would likely be related to this object. Shaking his head, Marcus then left the cabin where the Marker was placed, accompanied by his Tyranid Warbeasts. Such a large Marker, left there, wouldn't be disturbed by anyone. Moreover, a "Dead Space" would be generated around the Marker, an area where no Necromorphs would exist. This function was in place to prevent the Convergence from occurring prematurely.
Opening his system panel and looking at the Necromorph clearing progress, which had now exceeded halfway, Marcus knew that the immediate priority was to complete all tasks in the first stage. For the next period, Marcus led a group of Tyranid Warbeasts, relentlessly clearing the remaining hundreds of Necromorphs in the Crew Deck area. Due to its proximity to the Marker, all crew members concentrated in the Crew Deck area had either committed suicide or been killed by Necromorphs. Thus, Marcus encountered no survivors here.
Soon, under the efficient killing of Marcus and the Tyranid Warbeasts, the Necromorph clearing progress reached 1259 / 1287. There were fewer than thirty Necromorphs left to complete the task given by the system. Most of these remaining Necromorphs were hidden in overly concealed corners of the Ishimura, having evaded the hunting efforts of the Tyranid Warbeasts. A very small portion had detached from the Ishimura's interior, adhering to its external armor in the vacuum of space.
After clearing the last Necromorph in the Crew Deck area, Marcus closed his eyes and allowed his spirit to recover slightly. He then dispersed the Tyranid Warbeasts, instructing them to re-examine every corner of the entire Ishimura from beginning to end, rooting out all remaining hidden Necromorphs.
About half an hour later, the Necromorph clearing progress on the system panel finally reached full value. The system's prompt rang out at the opportune moment:
[Detected that the host has completed Mission Objective 2. Judging mission suitability. Evaluation passed. Issuing mission rewards. Obtained Random Draw Chance × 1. Obtained Title "Slasher Killer". Title effect: Slightly increases damage to all types of Necromorphs.
Detected that the host has completed the first stage of the main mission. Judging mission suitability. Judgment result: Excellent. Obtained Random Draw Chance × 1.
Starting the second stage of the main mission. Beginning to issue the second stage of the main mission: Recover the Red Marker.
Mission Objective 1: Kill the Brood Lord. Can obtain lottery chance × 1, obtain title "Enemy of the Blood Moon".
Mission Objective 2: Successfully recover the Red Marker. Can obtain lottery chance × 1, obtain title "Mental Distortion".]