Upon returning to Avarax's orbit, the Sanctuary automatically headed towards the Ishimura.
Once the spaceship docked in the flight deck area, Marcus called for Dr. Cain, who had been responsible for studying the Mycelium.
He then handed Miranda, Karl, and the Eight-Foot Lady over to Dr. Cain.
The former could help research the Mycelium, while the latter two were excellent Mycelium test subjects.
"How is the battle going?"
"Everything is normal. We are continuously weakening the Greenskins' effective strength."
Marcus nodded after receiving the answer. Only two hours had passed since he left and returned, so the battlefield situation would indeed not change much.
One week later.
After continuous fighting by the defenders on both the space and ground battlefields, the number of Greenskins had drastically decreased.
The once massive Greenskins fleet in space had begun to scatter.
Of the original twenty-one various Orc Junkyard City ships, only four were still stubbornly resisting.
They were quickly engulfed by missile salvos and nuclear bombardments, turning into a pile of junk parts floating in the void.
As for the surface of Avarax, five Ork monoliths had originally been deployed.
The five ork Junkyard Cities built by the Greenskins around these monoliths were also completely destroyed by the Avarax defenders using Anti-matter Bombs, following the same method.
However, corresponding to such a brilliant victory, both the fleet in space and the ground defenders paid a considerable price.
From the official start of the war until now,
the ICA's warships had lost twelve, armed merchant ships lost two, and the Ishimura's hull also sustained a certain degree of damage.
After this battle, the space fleet strength in Marcus's hands, or rather, in the Universal Union's hands, could be said to be severely depleted.
As for the defenders on the surface of Avarax, they also suffered huge losses.
The original PDF Soldiers, combined with soldiers from the Resident Evil world and ICA support troops, totaled nearly ten million people.
According to statistics from the ground command, the number of fatalities alone was already close to two million.
The injured were countless.
If it weren't for the Academy of Immortality continuously taking effect, ensuring the soldiers' combat experience increased while maintaining a certain morale,
an ordinary army suffering such severe casualties would probably have already collapsed.
Don't be fooled by the total casualties being only a few million, not even exceeding the death toll of World War II on Earth.
But it must be known that this war against the Greenskins has only lasted about ten days so far.
If it weren't for the existence of the ICA Anti-matter Bomb, the ground defenders' casualties would probably have doubled.
"No matter what, we finally ushered in victory!"
After destroying the last Orc Junkyard City ship, everyone knew that they had finally welcomed victory.
At this moment, whether it was the core crew members on the Ishimura, the soldiers in the ICA fleet, or the PDF Soldiers on the surface of Avarax who had fought on the front lines and just finished battling the Greenskins, as well as the armored units aided by the Resident Evil world,
all cheered.
The shadow of war was slowly dissipating, and the dawn of victory would eventually arrive.
"Quickly compile the casualty figures for all levels of troops."
In the command channel, Marcus emphasized.
"Do your best to ensure the survival of all wounded. Those with severe injuries should be sent directly to the Ishimura for treatment."
"It's already being done, but it will take a long time."
Alexia sounded a bit helpless.
Having just finished the war, it would take a lot of time to investigate the specific casualties of such a large-scale force.
"Hmm."
Marcus nodded and did not force Alexia to speed up further.
"ICA fleet, you can start recalling ground forces. Your war mission is complete. In three days, we will take you back."
The ICA fleet representative's mood was complex. Although happy to return to Earth, the thought of the heavy losses sustained by his fleet made him feel a pang of heartache.
In this war mission, the ICA's warships lost more than a third.
The fleet representative could already foresee being thoroughly investigated by the board of directors upon returning to Earth.
However, despite his complex emotions, the ICA fleet representative still responded, "We will immediately begin contacting ground forces now."
After giving some more important instructions, Marcus waved his hand.
"Let's end it here for now."
After the meeting ended, Marcus stretched while sitting in the captain's chair.
"It's finally over, this war."
Marcus felt a sense of emotion.
Less than a year ago, he was just a transmigrator who had just crossed over, constantly at risk of dying at the hands of the tyranids.
And now, he could gather the forces of several worlds to resist the invasion of the massive Greenskins fleet.
After regaining his composure slightly, Marcus became busy again.
Although he had delegated most of his authority, there were still many important decision documents that he needed to review.
"How did I become a stamping machine now?"
Marcus mumbled softly, then approved a document for building war cemeteries for fallen soldiers.
Soon, a new proposal was delivered to Marcus.
"Hold a victory parade?"
This proposal came from Alexia.
"Hmm, it can be done."
Since it was beneficial and harmless, Marcus stamped and approved the proposal.
On the surface of Avarax, although the war had ended, a large number of troops were still dispersed throughout Avarax.
They had a unified mission: to incinerate the remaining Ork corpses throughout the battlefield and to clear as many wind-blown Ork spores as possible.
"I wonder how long we'll have to keep burning."
Beside Chris, a team member complained a little.
"Focus on the mission."
Chris held a plasma flamethrower, scorching the strange Mycelium in front of him.
They were currently in a destroyed small Ork stronghold.
Although all the Greenskins inside had been killed, many Mycelium remained.
A reckless bombardment would only scatter these Mycelium spores everywhere.
So they could only send out small teams like theirs to burn the Mycelium clean with flamethrowers first.
"Captain, there's something here."
The voice of another team member nearby came through the communicator.
Chris and the team member beside him immediately rushed over.
Inside a collapsed Orc Junkyard City building, within a excavated giant pit, countless hideous Mycelium had intertwined,
growing vigorously.
Even, in the depths of the giant pit, some small, thin Gretchin had already been born.
"Use plasma bombs."
Chris immediately called over all the remaining team members in the squad.
Everyone took out special bombs, which stored a good amount of plasma, producing intense combustion more than explosions.
"Let's go."
Looking at his squad, which had miraculously survived the week-long battle with all members intact, Chris revealed a barely perceptible smile.
....
The aftermath of the war was proceeding at full throttle.
For Marcus, and for the entire Universal Union, this war had a profound impact.
After undergoing the baptism of truly cruel warfare, both the PDF Soldiers native to Avarax and the soldiers reinforced from the Resident Evil and Avatar Worlds underwent a qualitative transformation.
And these soldiers, who had faced terrifying enemies, would return to their respective worlds, causing the United Government and ICA to strengthen their reliance on the Alliance.
"But are you sure you want to tell them about the existence of other worlds so soon?"
On the top floor of the Central Hive City, Alexia looked at Marcus and asked.
After more than a week, the soldiers of the Resident Evil world's United Government and the soldiers of the Avatar World's ICA had some contact, and both sides had long known about the existence of another "Earth."
"For the United Government and ICA, a planet millions of light-years away and another world are both unreachable distances; they won't care," Marcus said casually.
"As the Alliance develops, we will eventually have to inform all members of this matter."
Seeing that Marcus said so, Alexia no longer dwelled on the matter.
"By the way, how are the preparations for the parade progressing?"
Two days had passed since Marcus approved the proposal for the parade.
"Preparations are mostly complete and will be held in the Central Hive City."
Alexia sent a plan to Marcus.
"Hmm, then let's get this done while the United Government and ICA personnel haven't returned yet."
After all, the soldiers from these two worlds contributed greatly to this war, so it was only right to include them in the parade.
"A parade?" Chris looked at the PDF non-commissioned officer in front of him, a little puzzled.
"That's right, you guys are quite lucky; not everyone gets selected to participate in the ceremony."
The non-commissioned officer handed a document to Chris.
"This is your squad's formation position; the parade officially begins in 12 hours."
With that, the non-commissioned officer left.
"I never thought I'd be participating in something like this," Chris said with some emotion, looking at the document in his hand.
Chris was originally serving in the American Air Force in the Resident Evil world but was later discharged for clashing with his superior.
He then joined the STARS team in Raccoon City, performing various special rescue missions.
It could be said that the words "parade" originally had nothing to do with Chris at all.
"This is a good thing, Captain," a young team member beside Chris said excitedly.
"Avarax hasn't held a parade in over a hundred years; it's going to be very lively then."
"Okay, tell the others to go get ready," Chris said.
Their squad had now returned to the Central Hive City and was currently located in the unified soldier management area.
The other team members had scattered to relax, so it would take some time to gather them all again.
Chris wouldn't be too strict with his team members; after all, they had just returned from a perilous battlefield where they could have died at any moment.
It was only right for them to relax.
Taking advantage of this rare break, Chris opened his RIG System, hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to contact his only relative, Claire, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.
"You still know how to contact me?" As soon as the RIG System connected, a scolding voice came through.
"If the Ishimura's RIG monitoring system hadn't shown your vital signs were stable, I would have thought you were dead."
Listening to Claire's incessant complaining voice through the RIG, Chris didn't feel annoyed; instead, he felt a long-lost familiarity.
After all, for the past two decades, he had been relying on Claire.
"Hey! Why aren't you talking? Greenskins shouldn't have weapons that can make people mute, right?"
Seeing that Chris hadn't responded, Claire was a little puzzled and reconfirmed that the RIG signal was indeed from Chris.
"It's nothing. How have you been on the Ishimura during this time?" Chris said after calming down slightly.
"Same as before, assigned to the medical team, constantly busy treating the wounded."
Ultimately, Claire was just an ordinary female college student, unlike Chris, who had fought zombies, eliminated Tyrants, and killed many Greenskins.
As soon as she heard her brother's voice, she immediately began to tell her experiences during this period in great detail.
"I'm hanging up now; there's another wounded person here. Brother, be careful down there."
The call ended, and Chris shook his head helplessly; his sister was still as impetuous as ever.
Walking out of the room, Chris immediately saw his team members, who had already assembled and were waiting for him.
"Let's go, we need to report to the Military Affairs Office first."
Chris led his team members towards the center of the management area.
The qualification to participate in the parade was by lottery, so not all soldiers could participate.
However, even so, the number of soldiers participating in the parade was still enormous; if you included the United Government and ICA personnel, it would be over a million.
Only the immensely vast Central Hive City could host such a massive event.
Half an hour later, Chris, who squeezed out of the surging crowd, brought good news.
"Not bad, we're in the first few rows of the No. 1 Infantry Formation."
The other squad members cheered.
"Let's go, we need to get on the assault ship and head to the upper Hive City first."
All PDF Soldiers, as well as United Government and ICA soldiers selected to participate in the parade, needed to gather in the upper Hive City.
The parade ground was there.
Only the upper Hive City, with its relatively good environment, had enough wide-open space.
"I've never been to the upper Hive City before," a team member from Chris's squad said on the assault ship.
Not just Chris's team members, but most of the other soldiers selected for the parade looked curiously at the upper Hive City.
Most of them were born in the lower Hive City.
Their original fate was to work in giant factories, producing things they didn't even know the purpose of, eventually dying of overwork by the age of thirty or forty.
Their descendants, and their descendants' descendants, would all share this fate.
"Praise the Governor," many people muttered.
This was not an empty slogan like "Praise the God-Emperor" or "Praise the Empire."
Instead, it was a genuine, heartfelt praise for Marcus, who was the Governor.
"Destination: Academy of Immortality, arrived. All occupants please disembark, form a unified line, and someone will lead you."
Listening to the broadcast in the cabin, everyone stood up together and disembarked in formation.