Chapter 305 - Maritime Forum
Not long after the World Chat Channel opened, a bombshell announcement appeared. It was so significant that the number of messages in the chat channel dropped sharply, as everyone was busy reading it.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Song Yingwen, leader of the Great Press Agency.
Today, we have some unfortunate news to announce: the Maritime Weekly will be suspended indefinitely.
This was a heartbreaking decision, but with the transaction fees, delivery delays, and the limited one-hour trading window each day, we had no other choice.
Starting today, the Great Press Agency will no longer publish any printed newspapers.
However, we also have another announcement to make. Beginning today, the Maritime Forum is officially launching!
After our Press Ship was upgraded to Level 4 and the special building was completed, it gained access to a dedicated server. We immediately began trying to recreate the kind of online forum we once had. From start to finish, the project took us about a week to complete..."
After reading the announcement, Yang Yi felt that one player's comment in the chat perfectly summed up everyone's feelings.
"Not a second of silence for the death of Maritime Weekly, because stepping onto the stage next is... the Maritime Forum!"
Almost every player, including members of the Great Press Agency themselves, felt no regret over the suspension of Maritime Weekly. The chat quickly filled with discussions about the newly launched forum instead.
The Maritime Forum operated on a subscription-based membership system.
A monthly membership costs 1,000 Seashell Coins.
Players who purchased an annual membership received two additional months for free, bringing the total price to 10,000 Seashell Coins for fourteen months of access.
At the current stage of the game, virtually every player could afford that amount.
Like everyone else, Yang Yi clicked the forum link shared by the Great Press Agency.
The link functioned much like the hyperlinks used to view item descriptions. However, instead of displaying item information, it opened a simple login page that required a username and password. New users could also register an account, though entering the forum required a valid membership code.
Yang Yi, however, didn't need to purchase one.
When the Maritime Forum officially launched, Yang Yi had received a private message from Song Yingwen containing an account name, a password, and the forum access link.
It seemed that VIP clients were granted permanent memberships, with each account allowing up to two users to log in simultaneously. That meant Suna could also access the forum using the same account.
Yang Yi shared the login credentials with Suna before opening the forum and entering the username and password.
【Verifying... Password Correct】
【Connecting to server... Forum interface loaded successfully. Welcome to the Maritime Forum. Your membership will expire in 9,999 days...】
Yang Yi noticed that a new Forum interface had been added to the system menu, allowing him to access it directly at any time.
"So it really can connect to the system. This server is pretty incredible," he muttered.
He couldn't help but marvel at it.
Then he remembered that the server was a special building, much like the Execution Rack and the Witch's Laboratory. With that in mind, it no longer seemed quite so unbelievable.
The first thing users had to do after logging in was choose an ID, which could be anything they wanted.
Yang Yi immediately typed in One-Eye.
【ID already exists. Please enter another one.】
"Damn it! Someone actually registered my ID before I could!"
Yang Yi cursed, impressed by how unbelievably fast the other person's fingers must have been.
Fortunately, it wasn't a real problem. He knew Song Yingwen personally.
In the end, his ID was successfully changed to One-Eye. His avatar remained the default icon, however, since he couldn't think of a suitable image to use.
As for the unfortunate player who had originally claimed the name, Yang Yi had no idea what had happened to them.
After entering the forum, he found that the interface was extremely simple. It had a plain white background with neatly arranged section titles, resembling the earliest internet forums. One corner even displayed a small notice:
"Urgently hiring one graphic designer. If interested, please get in touch."
The forum's categories were similar to those from the former Maritime Weekly. There were sections such as Maritime News, Monster Bestiary, and Item Trading.
In addition, three new sections had been introduced:
Featured Posts
World Sea Map
Faction Intelligence
Regular users could only create posts for free in the Maritime News section.
The forum functioned much like the old Tieba forums. Administrators could pin important threads or mark them as Featured Posts, which would then be permanently archived in the Featured Posts section.
At the moment, there weren't many threads in the Maritime News section.
The very first thread at the top was titled 【First】, posted by a user with the ID 【Your Pet Is a Lie】.
Below it were countless meaningless replies like "Second," "Third," and so on.
It was utterly ridiculous.
Yang Yi hadn't come to the forum to read that kind of nonsense, so he casually left a reply of his own.
【10086th】
Afterward, he began browsing the posts that actually contained useful information, starting with the official pinned threads explaining how each forum section worked and what purpose it served.
The Maritime News section was the forum's core.
Players could like posts, and those that received enough likes would be pinned to the top. Particularly outstanding posts might even be promoted by the administrators to Featured Posts, where they would be permanently archived.
At the same time, the original poster would receive rewards from the Great Press Agency, much like the intelligence fees they had paid in the past.
The editors of the Great Press Agency would also organize and compile valuable information, placing it into the appropriate sections so that every member could access it whenever needed.
"Nicely done," Yang Yi said in approval.
Overall, the forum was essentially an upgraded version of the Maritime Weekly, far more flexible and much more modern.
【After testing, we have confirmed that the forum remains accessible outside trading hours, that is, at all times except during the World Chat trading period from 23:00 to 24:00. However, outside that one-hour window, users can only access a historical snapshot from the previous day. New posts cannot be created, and existing content will not be updated, although users may still edit their own posts.
【Once the World Chat channel becomes available again, all forum functions will resume, and every post will automatically synchronize with the latest content...】
As Yang Yi continued reading the announcements, he suddenly noticed that a new thread had appeared under his account.
The title read:
【Looking to Collect Information on All Extraordinary Paths. Detailed information required. Payment available. Images preferred.】
"...Uh..."
He immediately realized what had happened.
Suna had created the thread.
Since they were sharing the same account, her forum ID also appeared as One-Eye.
【Boss One-Eye! He's actually here! Get him!】
【That ID is probably fake. Might be an impostor.】
...
【It's the real one. I actually grabbed that ID first, but those damn moderators changed it back.】
The reply came from a player whose ID was One-Eye Big Bro No. 37.
His profile picture was an unflattering, chubby photo of Yang Yi.
【The announcement already said the title system hasn't been integrated yet. Give it a few more days. Once titles are displayed, we'll know whether he's the real one or a fake.】
Another player with the ID One-Eye (Real) added.
...
A private message notification suddenly appeared.
Yang Yi had received a message from Suna.
"Your ID is completely useless. All the replies are just garbage. Can you change it?"
"...Huh?"
Yang Yi refused without hesitation.
There was absolutely no way he was giving that ID to anyone else.
After that brief interruption, Yang Yi turned his attention to the section that interested him the most—the Item Trading section.
After all, he had plenty of things to sell.
This was a premium section that required an additional fee.
Regular members could not create posts there. Only users who paid the extra fee were allowed to create a single post, which could then be edited and updated at any time.
"An online store?"
Yang Yi immediately understood.
Although it was rather primitive and presented in the form of a forum thread, its core function was essentially the same as an online shop.
Players could browse the listings and then purchase items by sending private messages to the seller.
It was far more convenient than using the chat channel, both for buyers and for sellers.
Moreover, the Item Trading section supported search functionality.
Users could search listings by a specific player's name or by keywords, making it simple and easy to use.
Editor’s Notes: Thanks for reading!