The World Watched; I Salvaged Scrap

The meteor over the sea was flying upward. Lin Che first saw the blue-white streak while leaning over the diesel engine of the *White Heron*, striking a rusted fuel line with a wrench. His phone rested against a toolbox. Hundreds of thousands of viewers counted down on the livestream as an unidentified vessel—appearing without warning in low Earth orbit three hours earlier—dragged a burning scar through the atmosphere. “The Joint Observatory has confirmed that the object remains intact—” The presenter vanished beneath a deep roar. The light turned sharply, a red-hot blade driven into the southeastern ocean. Clouds split in a ruler-straight line.