In Earth orbit, the Blood Moon slowly approached the Ishimura. It extended its colossal tentacles, gently placing the enormous Mycelium along with Marcus onto the flight deck. Next to the Mycelium, Marcus attempted to lift it with his newly enhanced psionics.
However, he ultimately failed. "I wonder how my talent is, and how far my psionics can grow," Marcus murmured. Although he had received a significant boost from the Telekinesis Crystal, the time was still too short; currently, he could only barely lift objects weighing a dozen tons, and even that was quite strenuous.
Shaking his head, Marcus called over some of the Ishimura's crew members. He instructed them to transport the massive Mycelium to the laboratory. "What is this?" several researchers inquired along the way, looking at the Mycelium with keen interest.
"It's the Mycelium; it can absorb and store the consciousness of the deceased," Marcus casually explained. "It's one of the most unique items in this world, I'd say." The few researchers were startled, especially Dr. Kane, who was a Unified Church member. "Then wouldn't that be—" Dr. Kane began, his eyes wide.
Marcus nodded. "To some extent, this thing is what the Unified Church seeks. As long as one is infected and assimilated by the Mycelium, their consciousness after death will be stored in the consciousness network constructed by the Mycelium. As long as the Mycelium isn't destroyed, they can achieve eternal life." As he spoke, Marcus glanced at Dr. Kane. This individual was indeed a Unified Church member, but unlike the other zealots Marcus had encountered, he was rational and still sane. Since he was a researcher, Marcus had spared him.
Shifting his gaze back to the Mycelium, Marcus began to ponder how to manage it. The Mycelium itself had no self-awareness; it only received external information by selecting a spokesperson, and Miranda was one of them. So Marcus wasn't worried that this thing would suddenly explode uncontrollably like a virus. Moreover, once Marcus completed his mission in the Resident Evil world, the Mycelium would most likely become one of his pieces of equipment, and it wouldn't be too late to research it thoroughly then.
"Alright, just leave it here." Due to the Mycelium's enormous size, there were actually very few places on the entire Ishimura that could accommodate it. So Marcus could only temporarily place it on the cargo deck. "Have Jacob and the others build a sealed isolation facility, put the Mycelium inside, and assign people to monitor it 24 hours a day in shifts. Remember to take protective measures to avoid infection." After giving these instructions, Marcus temporarily left the cargo deck and prepared to head to the Captain's Quarters. On the way, he also encountered Annette and Sherry, casually greeting them both.
The Ishimura, as a spaceship with its own faster-than-light travel capability, possessed an extremely vast interior and a wide variety of facilities. Ordinary people could entirely live their lives from birth to death on the ship while maintaining a good quality of life. After bidding farewell to the two, Marcus quickly arrived at the Bridge Hall and met Dr. Elizabeth, who had been waiting for him.
"What is it?" Marcus asked Elizabeth.
"The ship's food and other material reserves are running low; they're only enough for us to last another month. We need to resupply."
Marcus waved his hand. "It's fine, I've already reached an agreement with this Earth's government, and they will provide the Ishimura with sufficient supplies." Elizabeth nodded. Although she didn't know how Marcus had achieved such cooperation, it was certainly best if the Ishimura could get supplies. She then left the bridge to go oversee the hydroponics area.
"I wonder how Jill and Isaac's missions are going," Marcus muttered, stepping into the Captain's Quarters and sitting in his chair. Looking out at the blue planet through the viewport, Marcus stretched. Actually, with his current abilities, conquering the entire Resident Evil world by force wouldn't be difficult. As long as there were enough corpses, the Blood Moon would grow stronger and stronger. But Marcus chose not to. For him, the current win-win cooperation was already sufficient. There was no need to become a tyrant ruling a single planet.
"I wonder how things are on the Warhammer side. The Imperium shouldn't be collapsing so quickly, right?" Since the Resident Evil world was temporarily under control, and not all system missions had been completed, he couldn't traverse to a new world just yet. Marcus considered returning to the Warhammer world for a quick check. "Hmm, I'll go take a look. At worst, if I find the Imperium is collapsing, I'll simply run too."
Thinking this, Marcus directly opened the system panel and switched to the shuttle interface. He didn't plan to bring the Ishimura; that would be too conspicuous and easily attract the attention of the Tyranids and the Imperium of Man. So for this shuttle, Marcus intended to go by himself. Pressing the shuttle button, a white light flashed, enveloping Marcus, and then he disappeared along with it.
As his senses returned, when Marcus opened his eyes again, he was already in a beautifully decorated room. "Upper Hive City? Or the Spire?" Marcus carefully observed the room's lavish decorations. However, since the room's decor was still intact, for Marcus, this was good news. This at least meant that Avarax had not yet been completely devoured by the Tyranids. Just as he was about to walk to the window to see the situation outside, footsteps suddenly came from the doorway. After a moment of thought, Marcus immediately used his psionic abilities to lift himself, hiding silently behind the luxurious curtains.
"Bang!" The door was violently pushed open and then immediately slammed shut.
"Is that damned old man crazy?!" A clear, and slightly familiar, female voice entered Marcus's ears. Marcus peeked out and immediately saw a figure standing in front of the full-length mirror, preparing to undress. Through the reflection in the mirror, Marcus quickly recognized the woman. It was Katerina—the governor's illegitimate daughter, whose authenticity was unknown, whom Marcus had met in the Hive City church a long time ago.
"Who's there?!" Katerina seemed to notice a subtle movement, instantly turning her head alertly, scanning the entire room. The next second, a Psychic Flying Knife, already unsheathed, was pressed against her throat. If she had possessed a Rosarius, a miniature force field generator, then Marcus's attack wouldn't have been so easy to succeed. But unfortunately, a holy relic of that level was not something a governor's illegitimate daughter could possibly possess. Marcus, still wearing his Predator mask, slowly floated out from behind the curtain.
"You'd best not make any sudden moves, Miss Katerina." As the knife's pressure increased, faint traces of blood had already seeped from Katerina's formerly fair throat. This blunt death threat directly interrupted Katerina's hand, which had secretly reached for a nearby distress beacon.