Soon, the chat channel erupted with activity.
ID 578443: "Damn, my S-Alloy just sold! Let me check who bought it… It was 1945!"
ID 678345: "Same here! 1945 snapped it up! He must know what S-Alloy is used for; otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered buying it. He's no fool throwing money around."
ID 123321: "Heh, 1945 is playing a smart game. Look at the remaining S-Alloy on the trading platform—he's kept the prices artificially low. Do you know what that implies?"
ID 293853: "What does it imply?"
ID 54321: "It means that after figuring out the use of S-Alloy, 1945 has been quietly stockpiling massive amounts of it. Once demand spikes, he can sell it off and rake in huge profits. After all, his acquisition cost was dirt cheap."
ID 567454: "Uh, I get the logic. Isn't this just price speculation? But isn't this kind of behavior risky? What if production increases or it becomes useless later? Then 1945 will be the one eating the loss!"
ID 123321: "And if he doesn't lose? Are you all just going to sit back and watch 1945 laugh his way to the bank? In my opinion, we should unite and drive down the price of S-Alloy! Make 1945 bleed!"
ID 734645: "???"
ID 324623: "???"
ID 234346: "Something feels off. I don't know what to say, but your plan seems half-baked."
ID 322356: "Agreed. Asking other survivors with S-Alloy to collectively lower prices and prevent them from rising is just wishful thinking! If 1945 has the capital to buy everything at once, he'll end up monopolizing the market!"
ID 54321: "Ugh, you guys just don't get it! Think about it—even a large organization like the police department, if they tried to purchase that much S-Alloy in one go, how many resources would they have left? Right now, 1945 is stretched thin. He'll have no choice but to watch us band together and cut him off. In the end, he'll either have to sell at a loss or let it rot in his hands!"
ID 645234: "Hmm, that does make some sense..."
ID 987239: "Let's give it a shot. Anyway, I've been listing my S-Alloy at this price, and it's not selling. Even if I sell it cheaper, I'd be fine with that."
Chen Du, sitting in his villa, scrolled through the chat logs and couldn't help but feel a grudging respect for ID 54321 and ID 123321. These two seemed determined to sabotage his plans every step of the way. If he were truly hoarding S-Alloy and running low on resources, their strategy might have worked. But Chen Du wasn't hoarding for profit—he needed the material to construct an underground bunker. In fact, he still didn't have enough and was planning a second round of purchases.
Watching as more survivors began lowering their prices, Chen Du resisted the urge to act immediately. It wasn't enough yet. More people were likely still holding back. After a long while, there was still no sign of a large-scale buying spree.
ID 54321 and ID 123321 were ecstatic, gloating openly in the chat channel.
ID 54321: "See? See? Didn't I tell you? The prices are even lower now, but there's no sign of a big purchase. This proves that 1945 is tapped out! He's probably watching the price of S-Alloy crash, grinding his teeth in frustration, hahaha!"
It seemed, just as ID 54321 had predicted, that Chen Du had taken a major hit.
Over at the police station, Sheriff and his team were also monitoring this so-called "sanction war" against ID 1945. It appeared, as everyone had expected, that Chen Du was overextended and had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill.
Scorpion, observing the now rock-bottom prices of S-Alloy, couldn't help but suggest, "Sheriff, shouldn't we also buy some S-Alloy? After all, 1945 suddenly went on a buying spree, so he must have insider information. The price is right now, and we could secure our supply…"
Sheriff shook his head before Scorpion could finish. "Scorpion, first of all, we're a team. We need to allocate our resources carefully and use them where they matter most. Jumping into buying S-Alloy without knowing its purpose isn't worth the risk."
Scorpion wasn't convinced. "But Sheriff, if S-Alloy turns out to have a critical use later, we won't be able to buy it at this price."
"Don't worry," Sheriff laughed, completely unfazed. "With so many people in the police department, we don't need to rely on external purchases. Our own production will suffice. From the looks of it, S-Alloy isn't going to be in short supply anytime soon."
Meanwhile, back in his villa, Chen Du was relaxing with Xie Li and Tian Xiaoyu, watching TV. He had closed the chat channel entirely, paying no attention to the so-called sanctions. In fact, when he saw the aggressive talk about sanctioning him, he couldn't help but chuckle. If it weren't for the unique nature of S-Alloy and his lack of time to gather it himself, Chen Du wouldn't have gone on such a conspicuous buying spree. Still, he felt a twinge of gratitude toward ID 54321 and ID 123321. Thanks to their efforts, more survivors holding S-Alloy were listing it at a standardized price range. The slightly cheaper ones were quickly snapped up by opportunistic traders and relisted at the standard price, while the overpriced ones were left languishing at the bottom of the trading page. Prices were stabilizing.
After finishing an episode of the TV show, Chen Du cleared his throat to interrupt the two girls, who were still debating whether the male lead should choose the first or second female lead. "What's there to debate? As a man, of course, I'd take both."
Xie Li gave him a sly look, while Tian Xiaoyu blushed and muttered, "Back in school, I never would've guessed that someone with such an earnest face like you, Chen Du, could be so scheming."
Chen Du protested, "Ladies, my comment was purely about the plot of the show. Please don't take it personally!"
Seeing Chen Du flustered, Xie Li and Tian Xiaoyu burst into laughter. Chen Du then reached out and started tickling their sides, making them laugh uncontrollably. Only when the two girls begged for mercy did Chen Du finally stop, looking triumphant.
"Alright, enough fooling around. It's time to get back to business. Prepare for another round of S-Alloy purchases."
Hearing this, Xie Li and Tian Xiaoyu quickly got serious, opening the trading platform and standing by. Chen Du was waiting for the moment when everyone relaxed, believing he was no longer capable of buying S-Alloy, and boldly set uniform prices in an attempt to maintain control. That's when he would strike.
The three of them worked together, buying up all the cheap S-Alloy in one swift move. In an instant, the trading platform was left with only a handful of listings—all at absurdly high prices, clearly posted for fun rather than practicality. Like the kind where ten pounds of rice traded for a single piece of S-Alloy.
Some survivors, who had just gathered their S-Alloy and were about to list it on the trading platform, were stunned when they saw the reference prices. When did S-Alloy become so ridiculously expensive? Just moments ago, the prices were still relatively low. When they opened the trading platform, they realized that S-Alloy was almost completely sold out.
Soon, the chat channel was flooded with complaints from angry survivors.