Soon after, Marcus boarded the Sanctuary on the Ishimura's flight deck. He was accompanied only by Isaac and a single pilot, responsible for controlling the spacecraft. Once aboard, while the pilot initiated engine diagnostics, Marcus began to brief Isaac on the background of the Resident Evil world.
"The Earth in this universe has a technological level comparable to your world in the early 21st century," Marcus explained, "but in terms of biotechnology, it's only about twenty to thirty years behind."
Isaac, clad in his advanced engineer's protective suit, frowned. "Why do you say that?"
Marcus opened a screen on the Sanctuary, which immediately displayed a view of Raccoon City engulfed in flames. Throughout its streets, countless zombies roamed, tearing apart people and transforming them into their own kind.
"Every world has its unique characteristics," Marcus continued. "Your universe's unique characteristic lies in the Marker, while this world's unique characteristic lies in its numerous biochemical infection sources."
"This is... Slashers!?" Isaac exclaimed, startled by the sight of the zombies on the screen.
Marcus shook his head. "These things are called zombies. They are humans infected with the T-Virus. They do bear some resemblance to Slashers, but they are far less dangerous. Slashers are essentially corpses controlled by the Marker. They must be completely destroyed by fire or corroded by strong acid to be truly killed. However, zombies have far inferior physical qualities compared to Slashers, and their weakness is in their head. As long as their brain tissue is destroyed, they can be completely killed." Marcus patiently explained the distinction between zombies and Necromorphs, casually displaying a map of Raccoon City. "Our mission objective this time is this city—Raccoon City. A zombie disaster has already broken out there, and tens of thousands of zombies are roaming within it."
"What is our mission?" Isaac inquired.
Marcus smiled. "Your mission is simple: assist my Warbeasts in rescuing as many survivors as possible from Raccoon City and gathering them here." Marcus pointed to a specific location on the Raccoon City map: the Raccoon City Police Department. Isaac nodded, visibly relieved. Compared to unkillable monsters like Necromorphs, zombies posed little threat to him. The teeth of ordinary zombies likely wouldn't even be able to bite through his advanced engineer's protective suit.
Marcus retrieved a backpack, filled with various ammunition and supplies, and handed it to Isaac. There were several reasons why Marcus only brought Isaac to Raccoon City.He was no Gordon Freeman, but as a 'protagonist', he was useful.
Firstly, some parts of the Ishimura were still not fully repaired and required an engineer and others to continue maintenance. Secondly, the Ishimura was temporarily unable to produce enough weapons and ammunition to supply dozens of people. Thirdly, and most importantly, Marcus could not yet fully trust the others. Therefore, before boarding the ship, Marcus instructed the Shield intelligent system to monitor everyone on board and restricted the Ishimura's communication signals with the outside world. He also left the two Elite Marauders on the ship to prevent any unforeseen accidents.
Looking out at Earth through the viewport, Marcus addressed Isaac in a low, serious voice. "To quickly clear out those hundreds of thousands of zombies, I will use some powers that you might consider evil, Isaac. You must be mentally prepared." Isaac froze for a second, then hesitated. "You wouldn't..."
"That's right, it's the Marker," Marcus confirmed. "I hope you can understand." Isaac lowered his head, only looking up at Marcus when the Sanctuary's engine officially started. "Can you ensure that the Marker's disaster will not spread?"
Marcus nodded firmly. Isaac breathed a long sigh of relief. "In that case, for the sake of those survivors, just use it. Don't worry about my feelings."
Marcus nodded solemnly, his thoughts on the Marker, which had been transformed into equipment and placed in his system warehouse.
Red Marker Source: Dead Space
Effect 1: The Marker will emit pulse signals to its surroundings, creating the illusion of endless energy within itself, luring intelligent beings to study it.
Effect 2: The Marker will autonomously control corpses within a certain range, transforming them into Slashers.
Effect 3: The host can set the Slashers's target, and the Slashers will autonomously hunt the target prey, converting them into more Slashers.
Effect 4: The Marker will release mental distortion into its surroundings. The host can set the affected targets, and those with weak willpower will be affected by illusions and auditory hallucinations.
Effect 5: When the Marker transforms a certain number of Necromorphs, aggregation will be activated, and the Necromorphs will combine into the ultimate creation—the Blood Moon. The Blood Moon will obey the host's command.Note: The decision to open Pandora's Box rests in your hands.
This was the first time Marcus had obtained equipment with as many as five effects. In contrast, the Psychic Disaster Energy Source Marcus obtained in the Warhammer Universe had only two effects: possessing an unimaginably vast energy source that could charge any device, and radiating slight Warp contamination outwards. Each effect of the Red Marker was incredibly terrifying, yet all would be controlled by Marcus, preventing their influence from expanding without limit. Just the effect of transforming Necromorphs alone could gather a vast army for Marcus, not to mention the subsequent aggregation into a Blood Moon that would completely obey his command.
However, Marcus did not yet harbor such a terrifying plan. The hundreds of thousands of zombies in Raccoon City were certainly not enough to aggregate a Blood Moon. And Marcus was not so insane as to actively slaughter humans, collect Necromorphs, and aggregate a Blood Moon. Marcus's immediate goal was only one: to kill, or rather, to transform all the zombies in Raccoon City.
"Only the Warhammer Universe has no shortage of corpses; that's where the Marker's true stage is," Marcus muttered to himself.
In the White House, inside the Oval Office, a staff member rushed in, handing a report to the President. Its "urgent" marking was conspicuous. Frowning as he finished reading all the reports, the President stood up, furious. "So, our satellites are all blind now!?" Others around him had also received the report and were equally shocked. According to the satellite department's findings, all their orbital satellites and camera-equipped surveillance systems had simultaneously malfunctioned. This meant they could no longer observe the spacecraft hovering in high orbit through satellite cameras.
"This should be a tactic of that spacecraft," a staff officer frowned. "There's no force on Earth capable of such a feat."
"But the good news is that at least the other party didn't directly destroy the orbital satellites; they only shielded the surveillance cameras," another added. "The other functions of the satellites can still operate."
Just then, another staff member pushed open the door and submitted a new report. After reading it, the President breathed a long sigh of relief. "According to intelligence, other countries' satellites have also experienced this problem. Now, not only us, but everyone is unable to know what that spacecraft is doing." He immediately ordered, "Mobilize astronomical telescopes! Have all observatories pointed at that UFO. Even with the naked eye, we must constantly monitor that spacecraft!"
After giving the order, the President sat back down, this situation was serious, he'd probably have to cancel his trip to the 'Island'. He frowned, looking at the various experts and staff officers around him. "What exactly does that spacecraft mean? Why did it block our observation?"
"It's hard to determine at the moment," a staff officer replied. "The other party only shielded the satellite's cameras and did not directly damage other parts of the satellite." Another consultant immediately offered, "Regardless, we must be on alert. Perhaps the other party has already infiltrated our network through the satellite." Facing an unknown spacecraft that was high above and unreachable, everyone present felt somewhat helpless.