On a cloudless night adorned with countless twinkling stars,
Tian Xiaoyu took out the telescope that Chen Du had gifted her, just as she had done on previous evenings, relishing this rare opportunity to observe the heavens.
Unfortunately, the Blue Planet—was nowhere to be seen, nor were the familiar constellations visible through the lens.
The conditions tonight were perfect for stargazing. As Tian Xiaoyu peered through the telescope, she suddenly noticed an unusual trajectory streaking across the sky.
She couldn't believe her eyes.
Rubbing them and leaning closer to the eyepiece, she realized, with mounting horror, that it wasn't an illusion.
Clusters of meteors, their tails blazing like fiery brooms, are hurtling toward the apocalyptic world.
If nothing intervened, they would strike within a month.
Without wasting another moment, Tian Xiaoyu woke up Chen Du and Xie Li, who had already retired for the night, and shared the grim news.
Chen Du stroked his chin, lost in thought.
"Xiaoyu, how large is this meteor swarm? If they impact the ground, what level of destruction will they cause?"
After a brief pause, Tian Xiaoyu replied without hesitation: "Total annihilation! Nothing but devastation. The ecosystem will collapse; trees will wither, the land will be scarred with craters."
"Most importantly, for us survivors, this will be a catastrophe."
Chen Du tapped the armrest of the sofa beside him, murmuring, "The blueprint we acquired earlier for building an underground bunker might finally come in handy."
"But the materials required are going to be tricky to obtain."
An underground bunker.
In the face of such a calamitous meteor shower, it would provide them with a safe refuge.
However, constructing this underground bunker required a unique material—one they had never encountered before: S-Alloy.
Despite all the resources Chen Du had gathered so far, this was the first time he'd heard of it.
Yet, without S-Alloy, building the underground bunker was impossible.
Chen Du felt both excited and uneasy.
Unaware of the specific requirements for the underground bunker, Tian Xiaoyu remained enthusiastic.
"Chen Du, that underground bunker blueprint we got from The Scar Crew will finally prove useful! Once we build it and stockpile enough supplies, we can safely endure this meteor storm."
Xie Li also looked at Chen Du with anticipation.
Chen Du shook his head, explaining with a wry smile, "If constructing this underground bunker were that simple, I wouldn't be losing sleep over it."
"Let me show you the blueprint. Take a look at the materials needed."
As he spoke, Chen Du pulled the blueprint from his backpack and handed it to Xie Li and Tian Xiaoyu.
Both women frowned as they examined the document.
"What exactly is this S-Alloy? Never heard of it…"
Chen Du shrugged helplessly.
"Exactly. This special alloy is something none of us have ever encountered. We don't even know what it looks like."
Xie Li muttered, "It seems like we'll need to scour every corner of the wasteland for this stuff. Finding S-Alloy is our only chance of survival."
Tian Xiaoyu suddenly suggested, "Why don't we check the trading platform? Maybe someone has listed it there."
Deciding to give it a shot, Chen Du logged onto the trading platform—and to his surprise, S-Alloy was indeed being sold!
Prices varied wildly—some listings were dirt cheap, while others were exorbitant.
The lack of uniform pricing stemmed from the absence of any major traders monopolizing the market.
The scattered listings came from individual survivors who had stumbled upon the material by chance.
With no reference point for valuation, prices were arbitrary at best.
Meanwhile, merchants had also taken notice of S-Alloy's emergence.
Some considered buying up the supply to corner the market and later inflate prices.
But without a clear purpose or description for S-Alloy, they hesitated—rushing into stockpiles carried risks. If mass production began or if its applications turned out limited, breaking even might become impossible.
Thus, everyone remained cautious, waiting and watching.
Chen Du opened the chat channel and found people already discussing potential uses for S-Alloy.
Clearly, many survivors had acquired samples of the mysterious material.
Chen Du gritted his teeth in frustration.
He hadn't even laid eyes on a single piece yet.
ID 453493: "Hey guys, I found two pieces of S-Alloy in my loot. What's this thing for? No description at all—is it a quest item?"
ID 454756: "I found some too, but I've got no clue what it does. It's insanely tough—I tried using it to craft a shield, but it's impossible to work with."
ID 967969: "Haha, do you think you're some muscle-bound hero trying to forge shields? This S-Alloy probably isn't meant for equipment. Maybe it's used for armor?"
ID 223954: "You lot are getting ridiculous! Can't even make a basic shield, and now you want to talk about armor? My guess is, it's used to construct something specific!"
Reading this, Chen Du silently agreed.
Indeed, with a meteor shower imminent, underground bunkers would become essential for survival.
And S-Alloy—a critical component for building those underground bunkers—would soon become one of the most sought-after commodities.
Its price could skyrocket overnight.
ID 957565: "So, what exactly is S-Alloy used for? No idea…"
ID 754534: "Yeah, right now, S-Alloy seems utterly useless."
"I was planning to hoard some on the trading platform and flip it later, but damn, I'm too scared to pull the trigger! If things go south, I'll lose everything—and then I won't even need zombies to finish me off. Starvation will take care of that!"
ID 948292: "I've listed my S-Alloy for a pound of rice. Come and grab it, lol!"
ID 752534: "Fuck off! Plenty of people are selling it for a bottle of water or a loaf of bread, and no one's biting. You're just sitting there hoping for a sucker to fall for your price."
The chat channel buzzed with speculation.
While a few survivors were closing in on the truth about S-Alloy's purpose, most still dismissed it as worthless.
At this moment, Chen Du, unable to suppress a sly grin, sprang into action.
He swiftly began purchasing S-Alloy in bulk, starting with the highest-priced listings and working downward.
Worried that other survivors might catch on and drive up prices, Chen Du handed ample resources to Xie Li and Tian Xiaoyu, enlisting their help in the buying spree.
The three gleefully snapped up as much S-Alloy as possible.
Chen Du avoided the absurdly overpriced listings—not because he couldn't afford them, but to prevent a rapid and uncontrollable surge in value.
Though his actions inevitably triggered a chain reaction, causing prices to climb, he exercised restraint.
Rather than wiping out the entire trading platform, he set a reasonable price threshold and acquired all S-Alloy below that mark.