Barry was silent for a moment. Indeed, as the woman in front of him stated, Earth's resource crisis was imminent. Decades of frantic, exhaustive exploitation had rendered the planet increasingly unsuitable for human survival. Perhaps in another ten or so years, the super-wealthy and powerful, like himself, would manage by living directly in spaceships and space stations. But the poor, unable to afford respirators, would die in vast numbers.
Within the ICA, most directors seemed indifferent to the plight of the poor. Only Barry and a few others understood a fundamental principle: a civilization without its people is meaningless. If the poor truly perished, the human population would plummet. And since they hadn't yet mastered truly advanced artificial intelligence, most work still required manual operation. In such a scenario, human civilization would face an overall decline.
"So, does your side have any solutions?" Barry asked cautiously.
Alex wasted no words. She opened her portable projection device, displaying an image of the magnificent Pandora. She then zoomed in. "We propose continuing the development of Pandora. Our side possesses a modification device capable of transforming an entire planet's atmospheric environment, enough to make Pandora suitable for human habitation."
"What's the price?" Barry was skeptical. He didn't believe such a generous offer existed; these mysterious individuals couldn't be so kind.
"Very simple," Alex replied. "Your Earth needs to join us."
"Tell me in detail," Barry said, his expression unreadable. For him and for Earth, this was a crucial opportunity to understand the Ishimura better.
"Here are the contract details; you can take a look." Alex retrieved an information storage device from her pocket and plugged it into a nearby projector. Instantly, countless dense clauses filled Barry's view.
Barry quickly summarized the most critical points among the numerous terms. Firstly, Earth must join an organization called the Universal Union. While Earth would retain a certain degree of military and political independence, at certain times, the Universal Union would unconditionally allocate all military power possessed by Earth, and Earth could not refuse. Furthermore, Earth would need to upload its various cutting-edge scientific technologies to the Universal Union's database as required. Both of these were extremely stringent regulations. No ruling class would willingly surrender control of their troops, let alone their most advanced technologies.
However, despite these demanding obligations, the benefits of joining the Universal Union were also immense. The most crucial point was that the Universal Union would protect the safety of its members from malicious civilization attacks. Secondly, if Earth joined the Universal Union, it could accumulate "contribution points" by uploading technology or completing tasks assigned by the alliance. These contribution points could then be exchanged for technology held by the Universal Union, or other assets. For example, superluminal engine technology, or even a potion that could grant eternal life.
Even the strong-willed Barry almost lost his composure upon seeing the words "eternal life." In Earth's ICA conference room, all the directors had gone mad. For top capitalist oligarchs like them, their only true worry was the aging brought by the relentless passage of time. Eternal life was their greatest pursuit; for this, they would pay any price! Let alone joining the Universal Union, they wouldn't hesitate for a second even if it meant selling Earth!
Barry's virtual image trembled for a moment, then disappeared. The commotion in the ICA conference room was too great; he had no choice but to first focus his attention on the already frenzied ICA directors.
"Humans, ah—" Alex let out a sigh of emotion. She had also pursued eternal life. She had once considered achieving immortality indirectly through "body snatching." Her plan involved using a virus to enhance a target's brain capacity, then digitizing her own consciousness and copying it into the target's brain, directly taking over their body to achieve indirect eternal life. However, before she could even begin to implement her plan, she was captured by the United Government of the Resident Evil world and compelled to work for Marcus.
After a brief loss of connection, Barry's virtual image reappeared, along with all the ICA directors. "We need to know what method this so-called 'eternal life' uses," Barry asked, voicing the question most on the minds of all the directors.
"We will preserve your consciousness through certain means and construct new, indestructible bodies for you with special substances," Alex explained vaguely, naturally not revealing the existence of the Mycelium.
Barry nodded, then began voting with the other ICA directors. No one hesitated; everyone voted in favor of joining the Universal Union.
"This could be said to be the most unified ICA has ever been." Barry, as the executive chairman, secretly scoffed at himself. Since the establishment of the ICA, this was the first time all directors had reached a consensus on an issue.
After the vote, Barry turned to Alex and said in a solemn tone, "We, on behalf of Earth, agree to join the Universal Union." The decision that would determine the fate of billions of people on Earth was thus decided by the 21 ICA directors.
Alex was not surprised at all; she didn't believe these capitalist oligarchs had the resolve to resist the temptation of eternal life. "This will be a wise decision. Now, sign this Psychic Contract." The already drafted Psychic Contract was quickly transmitted digitally to the 21 ICA directors.
"I need to remind you all that the efficacy of this Psychic Contract far exceeds your imagination. Anyone who violates the contract, even us, will pay the price with their lives," Alex warned. However, this did not deter the ICA directors from quickly signing the Psychic Contract. Only Barry hesitated for a moment before finally signing his name. Although he still harbored some reservations about the so-called "Universal Union" in his heart, he alone clearly could not sway the decision of the entire board.
After signing the Psychic Contract, all the directors saw visions of their heads exploding if they violated the terms. Most directors didn't care; having made their decision, they had no intention of violating the contract. Only a small number of directors were bothered by binding their lives to the contract, but they quickly suppressed their unease.
"Very good, welcome to the Universal Union." Alex stood up and said with a smile. "Now, let's discuss the details of our future cooperation." Her primary mission was complete. Next, it would be the Resident Evil world's diplomatic teams engaging in tedious discussions with the ICA. This would likely last for some time.