Alexia keenly caught the key point in Marcus's words. "Cooperation? Elaborate." Marcus hadn't returned to the Warhammer world much lately, so Alexia wasn't aware of the Universal Union. Marcus didn't waste words; he directly took out the information about the Universal Union. "It's all here. Take some time to look at it. This concerns our future direction of development."
After quickly browsing through all the data, Alexia looked up. "You really are—" The words were on the tip of her tongue, but Alexia ultimately didn't finish them. With Marcus's keen hearing, he naturally caught Alexia's unspoken words. However, he didn't care much and turned to ask about Avarax's recent situation.
"Everything is normal within this system," Alexia reported. "It's just that occasionally some short-sighted pirates try to plunder our merchant ships."
"What about our trade? Has it been affected?" Marcus was more concerned about the trade routes.
"After those pirates boarded, they encountered our Tyrant Guards stationed on the merchant ships," Alexia shook her head. "So, we now have two dilapidated small pirate ships. I've already reached an agreement with the Adeptus Mechanicus to help repair them."
"Those oil-soaked guys are that easy to deal with?" Marcus mused.
"Biological Sage Halifus seems to have made some progress in researching the Mycelium, so he wants to deepen our cooperative relationship," Alexia explained.
"Oh? Tell me more." Marcus became interested.
"Our intelligence department cannot infiltrate the Adeptus Mechanicus, so we don't yet know how far Halifus has researched the Mycelium," Alexia admitted, a little helpless. "However, Halifus himself contacted me not long ago, hoping to obtain more Mycelium samples from you."
After listening to Alexia's explanation, Marcus pondered for a moment, then spoke. "It doesn't matter, agree to him. I'd like to see what these oil-soaked guys can research." They were just some Mycelium samples; he could simply collect some from the Mycelium on the Ishimura. "But tell Halifus that these are the last Mycelium samples we have." Marcus wasn't greedy. He knew that if he kept providing Mycelium samples to Halifus, the other party would soon realize something was wrong, and then come directly to him.
"Alright," Alexia agreed. At the same time, she pulled out a report from the Starseer Relay Station from the table. "By the way, you'd better look at this."
Marcus took the report and immediately saw several keywords on it: "Greenskin xeno pirates harassing trade merchant ships in several surrounding systems."
"When did this happen?" Marcus's expression turned serious.
"The Starseer Relay Station received the news yesterday, and this report was placed in front of me today," Alexia spread her hands. "I have already ordered to strengthen the armed forces on those few merchant ships and tripled the number of Tyrant Guards stationed inside. It should be enough."
"It's far from enough." Marcus shook his head. He was more aware of the Orks threat than Alexia. "These small-scale greenskin are not the biggest threat; the truly terrifying thing is the greenskin tide behind those Ork pirates." Due to the delay of Warp communication, there was a high probability that countless orks were currently traveling through the Warp in their ramshackle ships, flying towards the Recidious Star System.
"Notify all Hive Cities on Avarax to enter emergency status." Marcus stood up and looked out at the sky. "Also, tell all those merchant ships to stop and quickly carry out larger-scale armed modifications. I will bring all the PDF Soldiers from the Avatar World back now."
As soon as he finished speaking, Marcus had already disappeared from his spot again. "A time of trouble, it had just stabilized not long ago."
As soon as he returned to the Ishimura in the Avatar World, Marcus immediately explained the situation of the greenskins attack to the crew. "Return to Pandora. I will bring all those PDF Soldiers back to Avarax."
"What about the diplomacy with ICA—"
"Leave some people here and let Alex be fully responsible. Also, tell ICA that in a while, we may requisition their fleet and armed forces." Marcus quickly issued orders. All crew members realized the seriousness of the matter. Avarax in the Warhammer world was one of their important development locations. If Avarax were to be destroyed, they would no longer have a continuous supply of PDF Soldiers and various weapons and materials. This would be fatal for the newly established Universal Union.
"Shockpoint Engine inspection is normal, ready to re-enter Shockpoint Space at any time," Chief Engineer Jacob reported.
"Hurry up and arrange things here." Under Marcus's command, all the Ishimura crew members took action.
Soon, Alex, who was in an ICA warship in Mars orbit, received a message from the Ishimura. Although shocked, not expecting such a sudden event, she still managed to hide her surprised expression very well. She didn't let the ICA directors opposite her notice anything unusual.
"A member of the Universal Union is about to face an attack from a hostile civilization, and the Ishimura will go to help." Alex slowly stood up and threw out a piece of news that surprised everyone. The ICA directors, who had been engaged in intense discussions with the Ishimura diplomatic delegation, immediately quieted down, falling into a deathly silence.
"Is there anything we can help with, Ms. Alex?" Barry was the first to react from the shock. The other ICA directors immediately replied, "If the Alliance needs it, we can send people to help right now." What the ICA directors valued most now was the "contribution points" planned by the Universal Union. For this, they would seize every opportunity.
"It's not needed for now, but if the war there becomes intense, the Alliance will requisition your fleet, and at the same time, it will let you see the true dangers of the universe." To maintain the Universal Union's mystery and unfathomability in the eyes of the ICA directors, Alex calmly said. "The Ishimura will leave immediately. I will stay here and continue to discuss the development of Pandora with you."
Upon hearing this, the ICA directors felt a bit regretful. If there was really an opportunity, they wouldn't mind letting the officers and soldiers in their fleet go to their deaths on the battlefield. After all, ships could be rebuilt, and soldiers could be recruited again. However, the opportunity to gain valuable "contribution points" from the Universal Union was a rare one.