Chapter 88: Cloud Alloy (First Update, Please Vote)

He sensed something and turned, but only caught a familiar back disappearing through the doorway.

How could there be someone he knew here? For a moment, he could not place the face.

At that moment, Chen Wen tugged at his sleeve, signaling that it was time to go. The two of them walked out through the main entrance as calm as ever, under the gaze of everyone present. The moment they left, the hall broke into a low, excited buzz.

While the members of the Physique Arts Association were still discussing the matter with enthusiasm, a nearby door was pushed open and two boys of seventeen or eighteen stepped out side by side. Seeing the usually quiet hall so lively, they both looked slightly puzzled.

The one in white smiled. "Looks like we missed something."

The one in red curled his lip. "Why not just ask?"

Though they came here often for training, they had never really mixed with the people here. The boy in white stopped a man who looked somewhat familiar and asked with a smile, "Sir, did something interesting just happen here?"

The man often saw the two of them training here. They were young, yet carried themselves with such grace that he could not help liking them. Smiling, he said, "Someone just challenged for promotion here, and succeeded."

He glanced at them and added, "That boy looks about your age, but he's already reached the fourth rank. Truly remarkable." His tone was full of envy. He was nearly thirty and had only just reached the fourth rank himself.

The two boys exchanged a look, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes. A physique artist their age had already reached the fourth rank. When had another such gifted youth appeared in Mingzhou City?

They both began thinking of the young people from the major clans in Mingzhou, but none of them seemed to fit. Could he be a genius from an ordinary family? The same thought struck them at once, and both pairs of eyes flickered.

Soon afterward, the two of them left in turn. Not long after they were gone, two separate groups arrived and asked about the appearance of that fourth-rank boy.

Many in the Physique Arts Association had a feeling that the youth's rise to fame was not far off.

"Are we not waiting for Tianhai?" Zhou Yun and Chen Wen stood side by side on the moving corridor. Zhou Yun asked.

"He left me a message just now, saying we should go back first. And when I called him, I couldn't get through. I don't know what he's up to." Chen Wen also found it odd.

"He acts all carefree on the surface, but he's actually shrewd. No need to worry about him," Zhou Yun said.

Chen Wen shrugged. Tianhai was no child; what was there to worry about? He did not take it to heart.

After a while, Zhou Yun suddenly asked, "Xiaowen, I remember you once said your family works with organic metals?"

"Mm. Star River Group is our Chen family's business," Chen Wen said without hiding it.

"Do you still remember the cooperation I mentioned last time?" Zhou Yun said, a little apologetically. "Because I couldn't make time, I never got around to visiting your..."

"What's that matter?" Chen Wen interrupted with a smile. He truly did not mind. Back when Zhou Yun had brought it up, he had been so happy not because of the money, but because he hoped cooperation would strengthen their relationship.

"It's always me breaking my promise." Seeing how generous he was, Zhou Yun felt even more embarrassed. After considering it for a moment, he said, "I have another idea now. Maybe we can work together on that too."

"Oh? Let's hear it." Chen Wen was very interested. The longer he had been in contact with Zhou Yun, the more he felt that some mysterious veil seemed to surround him. The deeper one looked, the more unfathomable he became. Just when it seemed as though one had finally seen through him, it would not be long before one discovered that what had been seen was only the tip of the iceberg.

Take the time he disappeared for more than a month during the holiday, for example. Chen Wen had also used some connections to look for him, but found nothing, as if the man had vanished completely from the world.

Later, he even learned that the two major powers of Dar had also been searching for Zhou Yun, and likewise had found nothing. In the end, Zhou Yun himself reappeared at the edge of the desert. But had he really gone there to explore the desert? Chen Wen always felt the matter was full of doubts...

"A few days ago, I was doing some experiments," Zhou Yun began spinning more nonsense. Besides this, he really could not think of any other explanation. After all, there were a pile of advanced experimental machines in his home; it could at least pass for plausible. "By accident, I synthesized a new alloy..."

"An alloy?" Chen Wen frowned. There were countless kinds of alloys, but not every alloy was valuable. Only those with exceptionally outstanding performance, or unique properties that could not be replaced, could bring enormous wealth. Most ordinary alloys were not even as good as common metals.

"I did a casual test," Zhou Yun went on. "The strength, hardness, tensile strength, impact toughness, and the like are all just a little inferior to Ferkong Steel."

Chen Wen nodded. His family was an authority in the metal industry, so he was intimately familiar with Ferkong Steel. It was a very high-end metal. Though called steel, its properties far surpassed ordinary steel by countless times, and it was widely used in aircraft and spaceships.

If Zhou Yun was not exaggerating, then this alloy really did have the value of promotion, provided the cost was low enough.

"But it has one very outstanding property: its melting point reaches thirty-two thousand degrees."

"What?" Chen Wen was startled. He stared hard at Zhou Yun, his face tensing with unusual seriousness. "Are you sure?"

Although he knew Zhou Yun was not someone who spoke lightly, this matter was too important for him not to be cautious. If what he said was true, and this alloy's melting point really reached thirty-two thousand degrees, while its other properties still matched at least two-thirds of Ferkong Steel's, then it would be a world-changing invention.

The highest-melting pure element metal available in the Dominion of Dawo had a melting point of 9,121 degrees, while the highest-melting alloy currently known was Steel-Flow Gold, with a melting point of 23,000 degrees. That alloy was widely used in mecha hulls and the barrels of large particle cannons.

By the way, both Ferkong Steel and Steel Alloy were invented by people of the Fei family. These two metals brought the Fei family not only enormous profits, but also tremendous influence.

The Chen family's assets and business scale were in no way inferior to the Fei family's, but in the field of high-end metals, they had always lacked such core technology, and thus had been kept beneath the Fei family's shadow.

So when Chen Wen heard Zhou Yun say that the melting point of this metal was actually as high as thirty-two thousand degrees, he lost his composure. The Chen family had long been yearning for such a high-end metal.

Seeing Chen Wen's expression, Zhou Yun knew he had struck the Chen family's weak point. This cooperation now looked all but certain. With a partnership with the Yang family already in hand, and now the Chen family as well, his father was probably going to be overjoyed.

"The sample is in my backpack. I'll give it to you in a moment," Zhou Yun said with a smile.

"Damn this corridor. Why is it so slow?" Chen Wen was practically impatient beyond endurance. Zhou Yun's backpack was on his shuttle car.

This is steel named after its inventor.

P.S. If every reader who has collected one-third of this book casts just one vote, I will make the rankings. If you can vote for me, please do so as much as possible.

The next chapter will be updated at eight in the morning.