Maritime Weekly

A huge hole had been blasted in the Nightmare Star, and repairing it was quite expensive: wood ×332, cloth ×125, and steel ×20, plus stone ×108. It took half a day.

This system really knew how to recycle resources!

The materials recovered from dismantling a ship were drastically reduced, while the resources needed for repairs were outright multiplied...

Still, Yang Yi did not regret firing. Even if he had to do it again, he would pull the trigger without hesitation.

Who knew what would happen once that mass of spiders swarmed out? They might bite people, or they might gather together and turn into a monster.

In any case, being cautious could never hurt.

With such a huge haul, he could spare those materials!

Three days later, the Nightmare Star was still cruising around the island.

Yang Yi had the Sea Chart, giving him an inherent advantage: he could use it to monitor movements around the island.

But for three days straight, not a single ship had appeared nearby.

Perhaps, after Hu Wei died, the other players he had deceived tried messaging him privately, found that no such person existed, and grew wary, no longer approaching these coordinates.

Of course, perhaps Hu Wei had not deceived many people, and Yang Yi might have been the last.

For those three days, Su Na had shut herself inside the laboratory. Apart from drawing a few more tubes of Yang Yi's blood, she rarely showed herself, busy researching something.

That evening, as night approached, Yang Yi entered the cabin and called out a loud reminder.

"Su Na, time to go back to your room and rest!"

An eight-hour workday was the ironclad rule Yang Yi had set for Su Na. She could spend no more than eight hours a day in the laboratory.

This effectively kept her Sanity from dropping too low and sending her into a Madness State.

"Su Na!" Yang Yi called again, looking somewhat impatient.

"Just five more minutes!"

"Are you bargaining with me? Five more minutes, my ass. Get out here right now, or I'll kick you out!" Yang Yi said fiercely.

He had captain's authority and could kick Su Na straight out of the laboratory-literally, by having the system kick her out of the room.

"Please don't! I'll come out myself!"

After a burst of movement, Su Na ran out.

"Any results?" Yang Yi asked.

"Not quite yet..." Su Na seemed a little dazed, as though her mind was elsewhere.

Yang Yi was used to this and knew she was immersed in her own world. He merely urged her, "All right, go back to your room and rest. We'll talk tomorrow!"

Su Na barely reacted, walking toward her room like a living corpse.

Yang Yi returned to the deck and brought the ship to a stop, keeping a distance of over a hundred nautical miles from the island.

The fish he had caught these past few days were the same familiar varieties, apart from one strange fish he had hooked in deep water using an Eyeball Fruit.

It was about half a meter long and covered in coral, looking like a bamboo basket at first glance. In reality, the fish itself was only palm-sized, sitting in the middle of the "basket"; everything else was coral.

[Name: Coral Cagefish]

[Type: Food]

[Description: An Abyssal Fish covered in highly poisonous coral, which surrounds and protects it like a cage. Its flesh is also highly poisonous. Consumption is not recommended.]

Seeing the words "highly poisonous," Yang Yi did not even want to touch the fish.

He stabbed it to death with a wooden spear and carried it into the laboratory, skewered like a ball.

His luck had been terrible these past few days. He had not seen a single treasure chest, and apart from fish, he had only caught wood ×12 and cloth ×15.

Fishing's weakness was laid bare: the haul was extremely inconsistent, dependent on both luck and fishing skill.

But even the most skilled angler could come home empty-handed!

After enough fruitless trips, anglers would start doubting themselves and turn to superstition.

Things like casting at precisely the right moment supposedly giving a high chance of catching a treasure chest...

Or ignoring whether a fish had bitten and just constantly jerking the rod...

Or noting where they had caught a treasure chest or a big fish and fishing there again next time. (In other words, marking the boat to find the fish.)

There was even kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times to the fishing rod, pleasing it so much that it would fill the keepnet...

Yang Yi declared that all of this was fake, nothing but superstition! He had already tried it, and none of it worked!

Now he lay listlessly on his bed, browsing the World Channel.

"Buying lighters!"

Yang Yi left his usual message, hoping someone would contact him.

After scrolling up a few pages, a special fleet organization called the Great Newspaper caught his attention.

The organization had appeared a few days earlier and had still been recruiting then.

Its leader was probably the owner of a special ship that seemed capable of printing newspapers.

He had therefore planned to establish a newspaper organization dedicated to gathering the latest maritime intelligence and selling it as a weekly newspaper.

After so much preparation, their first weekly issue was finally ready for release.

"The first weekly issue is complete. Contents include a trading section, Sea Storms, and monster intelligence. Other content is still in preparation..."

"The weekly costs 100 Conch Coins per issue, or 300 Conch Coins for a monthly membership..."

"Everyone is welcome to submit news leads. We'll award Conch Coins based on the content.

Anyone providing fake news will be permanently blacklisted! Advertising space is also available for rent..."

He had to admit, the newspaper's leader was a business genius.

The paper was inexpensive, but they could make up for the low margin through volume. With tens of thousands of customers, the speed at which the money rolled in would be unimaginable!

Provided they established a good reputation for the paper first.

Yang Yi was interested too, and sent a private message saying he wanted to buy a copy.

A reply soon arrived.

"Pay first, then leave a private message specifying the newspaper's language.

The newspaper will then be sent through a free trade.

You can also add us as a friend and get a membership. For 300 Conch Coins a month, you'll receive at least four issues. We currently have a promotion: sign up for three months and get one month free!"

"No membership needed. Just one copy for now!"

Yang Yi transferred 100 Conch Coins straight over.

Membership required adding them as a friend. Yang Yi could not be bothered, and he was not short of that little bit of money.

He bought a copy anonymously, intending to take a look first.

If the content was good and valuable, he could keep buying it.

The newspaper worked very efficiently, even delivering at night. Within minutes, the item arrived through a trade.

It was an extremely crude, ink-printed newspaper, exactly like the old-fashioned newspapers he remembered. Rub it hard enough and the ink would smudge.

But now, nobody cared about that, as long as the contents were valuable!

The Nightmare Star had neither lamps nor fire. Only the Witch Laboratory and Su Na's room had lighting.

Yang Yi did not intend to visit her room under the pretext of reading the paper. Instead, he slipped into the Witch Laboratory.

Inside, it was cold and deserted, like another world. An indescribable smell filled the air, a complex mixture of rank odors and the distinctive scent of Otherworldly Demon flesh and organs.

Many organs soaked in glass jars along the wall. Yang Yi could not be bothered to look; looking too much might cost him Sanity, and there was no need!

He opened the newspaper and began reading.

The newspaper had two sides. The front was the trading section, listing both purchase requests and items for sale, with clearly marked prices as well as ship names, player names, and IDs, allowing readers to negotiate through private messages at any time.

Most of the goods advertised were produced and sold by the sellers themselves.

A quick scan revealed an old acquaintance: Zhou Dai, captain of the Radiant Goddess Ship. She was advertising Holy Water at quite a steep price-now 2,000 Conch Coins a bottle, or in exchange for items and equipment.

By that reckoning, the price she had given him had already been a friends-only insider rate.

The chaotic early prices and shortage of basic materials had also played a part.

Yang Yi kept reading and discovered a troublesome Relic.

[Name: Corpse-Eating Cult Introductory Manual]

[Category: Relic]

[Quality: Treasured]

[Description: This book records eighteen ways to eat corpses, truly allowing you to nourish a body part by eating its counterpart!

Except your brain.]

Yang Yi's vision went dark after reading it.

He absolutely had to destroy this newspaper afterward. Su Na must not discover it.

Otherwise, that madwoman would definitely buy the book at any cost and try out its contents.

The thought gave Yang Yi goosebumps, as though he could already see Su Na eating corpses.

He immediately disabled Su Na's trading privileges, snuffing out that possibility altogether.

The other items were not quite so sinister. Yang Yi skimmed through them and found that they were either overpriced or ineffective.

Anything good and inexpensive would already have sold in the chat channel.

Still, Yang Yi did find an interesting piece of ship equipment.

[Name: Savage Catapult]

[Category: Ship equipment]

[Quality: Fine]

[Description: Can launch objects for long-range attacks.

Effective range: 0-500 meters (0 if the object is too heavy to launch). Before installation, ensure there is one square meter of space on the deck.]

What the Nightmare Star lacked most at present was a means of ranged attack. He could buy this catapult as a stopgap, if the price was low enough.

Yang Yi checked the asking price: 2,000 Conch Coins. They might as well rob him!

After upgrading the ship, he could build cannons, which were far easier to use than this hard-to-aim catapult.

They were more powerful too!

The catapult's only advantage was having slightly more range than the average cannon currently available, but a stone could not fly as fast as a cannonball and was easy to dodge.

Thus, Yang Yi concluded that this thing was not worth 2,000 Conch Coins at all!

Five hundred, on the other hand, would be acceptable.

He sent the seller a private message.

"Five hundred for the catapult. Message me if interested!"

The seller did not reply. They might have gone to sleep; he would check again tomorrow.

Yang Yi also looked through the purchase requests. Familiar organizations such as New World, New Humanity, and the Iron Brotherhood were buying materials, equipment, fire-starting tools, and other items.

Their prices were generally slightly below market rate, with the main appeal being a quick sale for cash.

"All these organizations are buying fire-starting tools. No wonder I can't get any..." Yang Yi clicked his tongue.

As an individual, he could not possibly compete financially with these fleets right now. His hold was only so big...

After finishing that page, Yang Yi turned the newspaper over.

This page was divided into left and right sections: Sea Storms and monster intelligence.