There were thirty-four survivors from the Ishimura, and sixteen from the Valor. Adding Isaac, Hammond, and the others from the Sanctuary, the total assembly now numbered fifty-five souls. At Marcus's summons, all of them had gathered in the Bridge Hall. Having already heard of Marcus's formidable reputation, particularly his feat of clearing the Necromorphs from the Ishimura, they naturally wouldn't ignore his call.
Facing the expectant crowd, Marcus cleared his throat and stood before them. "Crewmates!" he announced, his voice carrying authority. "I believe by now, you've all learned that the disaster which erupted on the Ishimura originated from the excavated Marker and the fanatical Unified Church members." He paused, letting his words sink in. Everyone present looked up at him, their expressions a mix of weariness and hope.
"And now," Marcus declared, a note of triumph in his voice, "I can announce that all the Necromorphs on the Ishimura have been completely cleared!" As soon as the words left his lips, a burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted from the crowd. After enduring a literal hellish disaster, the survivors began to celebrate, their relief palpable. The vast majority of these individuals were not Unified Church believers, and the small number who were had, after witnessing the horrors caused by the Marker, abandoned their faith at light speed.
After raising his hand to quiet the jubilant cheers, Marcus spoke again. "Due to the destruction caused by those Unified Church members, the Ishimura is now severely damaged." As he spoke, Marcus activated the holographic projection beside him, which displayed the ship's extensive damage. His gaze swept over everyone. "Human civilization is currently facing a massive energy shortage crisis. Every Planet Cracker ship is a treasure of human civilization, and we must repair the Ishimura."
A moment of silence fell, then a crew member raised a hand and spoke. "I saw two spacecraft on the flight deck. Can't we just take a spacecraft and leave first, and then let the Earth Government repair the Ishimura?" These words articulated the thoughts of many; they were impatient to escape. Marcus looked at the man, thinking, You're in my hands now. You'll repair the ship obediently my minions.
"The Sanctuary is too small to accommodate so many people," Marcus stated. "As for the Valor, because Necromorphs entered the spacecraft not long ago and caused some damage, it cannot perform long-distance voyages temporarily." He glanced pointedly at the Valor survivors in the crowd who had been forced to swallow Fleshworms.
"N-no, that's right. The Valor cannot perform long-distance voyages for now," a pilot in a Valor uniform stammered, shivering as if feeling a crawl in his stomach. Seeing that a professional had confirmed it, the Ishimura crew members no longer pressed the matter.
"Elizabeth, how long can the supplies in the hydroponics area sustain all of us?" Marcus asked. Elizabeth didn't hesitate. "Due to the Leviathan's absorption and destruction, half of the supplies in the food warehouse were contaminated and devoured, but the remaining supplies can still last for two to three months." Marcus nodded, and the others present also visibly relaxed. Two or three months would be ample time for the Earth Government and CEC Company to discover something was amiss and send aid, or so most people thought. Unfortunately, they didn't know that, in the shadows, Marcus had already set his sights on them, planning to take these very people to other worlds.
After concluding his address, Marcus called Isaac and Jacob forward. The two engineers began to assign various repair tasks for the Ishimura to the assembled crew. Thanks to the ship's massive mineral resource reserves and its highly automated system, it was estimated that it would only take a little over a week to repair most of the Ishimura's critical systems.
Having stepped down from the impromptu stage, Marcus returned to the Captain's Quarters. With all Dead Space missions completed and having become the de facto leader of the Ishimura, the massive Planet Cracker had effectively become a piece of "equipment" for Marcus. Although this "equipment" was about 1.6 kilometers long, comparable to an Imperium of Man Sword-class frigate, Marcus could now indeed take the Ishimura to travel between worlds, and the crew on board were naturally included in this acquisition.
However, Marcus was in no hurry. He first went to the Crew Deck and retrieved the Red Marker into his system warehouse. Then he visited the food warehouse in the Hydroponics area to check the hatching status of the Tyranid Hive Tyrant and the Alien embryo. After attending to these matters, he opened his system panel.
The shuttle interface on the system panel displayed two names, both flashing: "Warhammer 40K Universe" and "Dead Space Universe." This confirmed Marcus could shuttle between the two at any time. In addition to these two, the list of available worlds on the shuttle interface had also been updated.
[Anchor Universe : Warhammer 40000]
[Current available travel times: 1Will randomly shuttle to one of the following worlds:Resident Evil game universe, Titanfall game universe, Transformers movie universe, Cyberpunk 2077 game universe, StarCraft Universe.Do you want to commence dimensional travel?]
The original Dead Space was replaced by Titanfall, and The Wandering Earth and Avatar were replaced by Cyberpunk 2077 and StarCraft. "The danger level seems to have gone up a notch," Marcus mused, stroking his chin as he looked at the five worlds before him. "I wonder if the replaced worlds will still appear." Among these options, only Resident Evil could be considered truly safe. The remaining worlds were progressively more dangerous.
In Titanfall, the war between the IMC Company and the Frontier Resistance affected countless planets, featuring high-level combat forces like Titans and Pilots. Although the Cybertronians in Transformers were no longer in their prime, they were still powerful, with super-level combatants like Unicron and Primus. The Cyberpunk world was slightly better; humanity hadn't yet mastered interstellar travel technology, but the rogue AIs in its worldview were equally not to be underestimated.
As for the StarCraft Universe, it presented an even greater challenge. Whether it was the Zerg Swarm, as overwhelming as the Tyranids, or the Protoss, the firstborn of the gods, who possessed super-high technology capable of burning an entire planet into glass. Even the Imperium of Man, which was repeatedly outmatched by the former two in the plot, presented threats Marcus could not afford to provoke right now.
However, Marcus was not in a hurry to execute the shuttle procedure immediately. It would be time enough to do so after the Ishimura was fully repaired and the Alien had hatched. As for the Warhammer Universe, Marcus had no immediate plans to return. Firstly, the Recidious Star System was still suffering from the Tyranid invasion; returning now would be akin to delivering himself to the Great Devourer's dinner table. Secondly, Marcus's sudden disappearance and the death of Imurah must have attracted the attention of the Ultramarines and the Imperial Inquisition. Going back now would be tantamount to walking into a trap. The Ishimura was just a mining ship, and confronting these two powerful factions would be suicidal. Therefore, Marcus planned to lie low for one or two more worlds, accumulate significant strength, and then, and only then, consider returning to the Warhammer Universe.