"Everything changes when you stop trading for survival… and start trading for dominion."
Kai stared at the two crates stacked in the corner of the garage—each humming with volatile potential.
Gravsteel Ingots. Dense, high-resistance metal harvested from collapsed micro-stars.
A Synthsteel Relay Core. Hyperconductive and semi-sentient, capable of self-repair and interface adaptation.
These weren't street-level commodities.
These were the bones of empires.
Yena stood beside him, arms crossed. "You're not planning to sell them, are you?"
"No," Kai said. "I'm going to build with them."
Inside the node, the System Interface opened with a new prompt:
Infrastructure Upgrade – Trade Node Tier II → Tier III
Requirements:– Gravsteel x10 ✅– Synthsteel Relay Core x1 ✅– 30 C.U. ✅
Upgrade Benefits:– Unlock: Mobile Distribution Drone (1 unit)– Node Storage: +50%– Automated Logistics System– Passive Scanning: Trade Hotspot Detection
Proceed with Upgrade? → YES / NO
Kai's eyes narrowed. It would cost nearly everything he'd gained so far.
But that was the point.
He tapped YES.
The transformation took twenty-three minutes.
The garage walls realigned. Gravsteel flowed like mercury, reinforcing the foundation. The Relay Core embedded itself into the new command console, pulsing with a low hum.
When the system rebooted, a new drone unit unfolded from a side panel—sleek, oval-bodied, with anti-grav emitters and an onboard holographic market interface.
Trade Drone Unit: "Courier One" ActivatedFunction: Remote Product Delivery, Sales, and Credit CollectionRange: 10 kmCapacity: 6 UnitsSecurity: Class II Shield + Return Beacon
Passive Feature: Local Buyer Scanning Enabled
Yena's jaw tightened. "That… is a problem for every street merchant in the city."
Kai smiled. "Good. Let's make it worse."
Over the next 48 hours, Courier One zipped through the air, delivering nutrient packs to slums, high-end sky-plasma to rogue techies, and black-market filters to the city's underbelly.
Kai didn't need to be there.
He didn't need to haggle.
The credits just kept flowing in.
And as his revenue grew, so did his data feed.
The Trade Hotspot Scanner picked up activity in a sector of the city known as Dockside Verge—a melting pot of smugglers, hungry corporates, and desperate ex-soldiers.
Perfect place to launch his second node.
But there was a catch.
New Feature Unlocked: Secondary Node Protocol – LockedRequirement: Trader Rank 4Current Rank: 3.4
Progress: 68% → Rank Up Threshold: 100%
He was close.
But not close enough.
He needed bigger trades, faster turnover, and higher-risk assets.
More importantly, he needed chain links—interconnected trades that affected multiple buyers and sectors.
That's when the next opportunity presented itself.
Incoming Trade ProposalTrader ID: #12110 – "Mynor of Irid-C"Offer: Stellar Silk (Luxury Material, +24.7 C.U. Profit Margin)Request: 6x BioGlow Soil Enhancer + 1 Synthsteel Relay Core
Risk Level: 3-STARWarning: Trader has reputation for unstable chain deals
Accept? YES / NOTimer: 01:30
Yena squinted at the name.
"I've heard of this guy. Smuggled live fauna once—turned an entire moon feral. Half his deals collapse."
"Then we play smart," Kai said.
He opened a Mirror Deal Interface, masking part of the trade routing through a neutral channel.
He tapped YES.
The transfer surged.
Everything Kai had learned over the last month was tested: power balancing, transfer shielding, timing. The Synthsteel Relay nearly overloaded.
But when the last of the Stellar Silk arrived—gleaming silver thread that shimmered with solar-spectrum light—Kai knew it had worked.
Trade Complete.Profit: +24.7 C.U.
Trader Rank Progression: 68% → 81%
Yena whistled. "If this keeps up, you'll hit Rank 4 in a week."
Kai grinned.
"Try three days."
Current Status:
Kai has officially upgraded his Trade Node to Tier III, investing Gravsteel and Synthsteel into building a sleek, autonomous trade infrastructure. His first mobile drone, Courier One, is already penetrating new markets and gathering data.
He's unlocked Passive Trade Scanning, Automated Logistics, and made his first move toward city-wide influence. His current Cosmic Units stand at 47.6, while Earth Credits total 171.9—after reinvesting profits into expansion.
With Stellar Silk now in his possession, Kai has not only doubled his reputation but placed himself on the radar of major players—both legal and illegal.
And the deeper he goes, the more the Chain watches.
But by the time they try to stop him, Kai plans to be untouchable.
📌 Author's Note:
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— S.A.