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38: Chapter 38 The Rich Man in TroubleAfter completing the viscount conferral ceremony, Fu Hao set off the very next day, embarking on the long journey to his territory.

His fief, ”Lepis Territory,” was located on the most remote border of the Rowen Kingdom, far from the capital.

Although he had long yearned for the rich and fertile land near the capital, facing reality now, Fu Hao could not hide his disappointment. The power of wealth was always concentrated at the center of power; the place where money had the most influence was naturally the capital, as that was where the core talent and resources of the Rowen Kingdom gathered.

As the carriage bumped along, Fu Hao sat inside, opening his map interface once again, his brows furrowed as he checked it repeatedly.

In the end, he had to helplessly accept one fact: Lepis Territory was located on the border, right next to the massive forest known as the ”Demon World Boundary.” The only consolation, perhaps, was that as a viscount’s domain, its territory was still quite vast.

He forcibly suppressed his dissatisfaction with the location and turned his attention to a more pragmatic development blueprint.

Although his financial resources could be considered limitless, in the ”otherworld,” while money could solve the vast majority of problems, it could not single-handedly build the military force, network of connections, and political capital needed to protect a territory. While the system protected a player’s personal assets, it could not shield the territory’s resources. If he wanted the territory to truly prosper, he had to establish a ”force” that could defend it.

”What will the territory’s initial military strength be? After all, it’s a viscount-level autonomous territory; it should at least be equipped with over a hundred knights, right?”

Although Lepis Territory was located in a remote area, Fu Hao was still full of anticipation.

Previously, a player who owned a barony revealed that their starting configuration was ten knights, five hundred soldiers, and two hundred thousand residents. Based on this calculation, a viscount’s territory should be even larger, and Fu Hao even fantasized about being able to directly take over a well-trained elite force.

However, the higher the expectations, the deeper the disappointment.

”That bastard Prince Carlson...” He glared at the territory information window, his fingers trembling with anger.

Territory: Lepis Territory. Rank: Viscount Domain. Lord: Fu Hao of Lepis Territory. Territory Area: 28,120. Population: 96,250. Military Strength: 1 Knight, 251 Soldiers. Administrative Personnel: 1 Administrator, 3 Tax Officers, 55 others. Finance: -4,203,000 gold coins. Monthly Fixed Income: 3,507,591 gold coins. Monthly Fixed Expenditure: 3,903,633 gold coins.

The same word flashed through the minds of Fu Hao and the audience in front of the screen almost simultaneously: Bankruptcy.

”Whoa, why is the territory status like this?”

”No wonder the First Prince looked so guilty during the conferral.”

”Hahaha, I wouldn’t want this place even if it were given to me.”

”Is there a bankruptcy button?”

”One knight, I’m laughing like crazy.”

He recalled Prince Carlson’s slightly apologetic words during the ceremony: ”I’m sorry, Fu Hao. With my abilities, I truly couldn’t find a better territory.”

He had thought it was just a concession regarding location, but he hadn’t expected that the so-called ”apology” actually referred to this dilapidated territory on the verge of collapse. Aside from the decent area, the overall state of Lepis Territory was not even as good as an ordinary barony.

What truly made Fu Hao feel desperate was the almost non-existent military strength.

Financial problems could still be filled with his own funds, but the thought of re-recruiting and training soldiers alone was a headache. He had originally been confident that he could stabilize his foundation by crushing everything with equipment obtained through ”pay-to-win,” but as it turned out, he had to recruit even the soldiers and residents from scratch.

Without hesitation, he summoned the only administrator in the territory—a short, stout, middle-aged man with a nervous expression.

”You summoned me?” Administrator Lapis walked into the lord’s office with a trot, his face covered in sweat.

”Explain this. What is going on? How did my territory become such a wreck?”

”You... are not aware?” Administrator Lapis asked in astonishment.

”I was just suddenly sent here.”

”I see... So it really is a nouveau riche commoner who jumped straight to nobility.” Administrator Lapis sighed silently in his heart, then began to recount the past of this territory:

”Ten years ago, Lepis Territory was still one of the most prosperous and militarily powerful territories in the south of the kingdom, relying mainly on vast pastures and huge granaries. But ten years ago, that sudden ’Monster Tide’ erupted from the depths of the Great Forest, heading straight for the granaries of Lepis Territory—and those granaries were the lifeline that supported the prosperity of this place. To resist the monster tide, the previous lord mobilized the entire army.”

He said in a low, sorrowful voice: ”However, the monster tides came wave after wave, without cessation. Years of war led to the loss of soldiers and critical shortages in military supplies, and the finances gradually fell into a bottomless abyss.”

”I can understand the financial collapse,” Fu Hao frowned, ”but why did the population and military strength drop to this extent?”

Administrator Lapis’s voice choked with emotion: ”The previous lord and his only heir died together in the final defensive battle. Having lost the core Knight Order and their spiritual pillars, the remaining soldiers and officials fled one after another to seek refuge elsewhere. The pastures were destroyed by the monster tide, and the residents who lost their livelihoods also moved away one after another. What remains now are merely the elderly and orphans who still hold loyalty to Lepis Territory.”

”The original lord’s bloodline is extinct; Fu Hao picked up an empty shell.”

”Did they never think of asking the royal family or neighboring territories for help?”

”The Lepis family has had a long-standing grudge with the royal family, and the previous lord was stubborn and unwilling to bow his head; he had sought cooperation from surrounding territories, but was asked to cede all pastures, resulting in the breakdown of negotiations.”

Fu Hao was thoughtful: ”Then did the surrounding territories not rely on Lepis Territory for grain supply before?”

”They did. Before the monster tide, almost half of the surrounding area’s grain was bought from us.”

”Then where did the residents and soldiers who left go?”

”Most of them flowed into the surrounding territories.”

”Lepis Territory ran out of food, yet the neighboring territories were willing to accept these refugees?”

”I heard they give extremely low wages, barely enough to survive, and some are even used as slaves. But even so, it’s better than Lepis Territory is now.”

Fu Hao pondered for a moment, his gaze gradually becoming firm: ”They must be brought back.”

”You... have a way?”

”Buy grain.”

”But... the territory’s financial deficit is nearly five million gold coins. If millions of refugees return, how much grain would need to be purchased?”

”Fu Hao isn’t listening at all.”

”The pay-to-win big shot is about to make a move.”

”How much grain does a million people need? Just thinking about it makes me crazy.”

His plan was to go directly to other pastures to purchase grain.

The reason he decided to go personally was because the transport cost for cross-regional areas was extremely high—although players could use Teleportation magic circles to move quickly, large quantities of supplies could not be moved through Teleportation.

From the Rowen Kingdom capital to Lepis Territory, it only took players five hours, but a caravan would take over two weeks, during which they would also need to pay high security and transport loss costs.

But he didn’t need a caravan. His inventory slots and weight capacity had long been filled with ”Expansion Coupons” and ”Weight Coupons” from the shop; his capacity was a thousand times that of an ordinary player, and he could completely handle this level of large-scale transport.

Taking this opportunity, he was also prepared to further expand his inventory limit.

Possessing a backpack with near-infinite capacity, coupled with that teleportation gem that could move across regions at will, Fu Hao firmly believed that he was fully capable of turning the tide.

”Although showing the entire purchasing process during the livestream would be very exciting, but...”

The number of zeros in the quantity of the teleportation gem he possessed was enough to make one gasp, and what had been consumed in the past half month was merely a drop in the bucket. However, even if he deliberately hid it, the outside world’s speculation and questioning grew day by day.

He worried about that day—the secret would be exposed, the entire community would be in an uproar, and he would be attacked, boycotted, and verbally abused. And his current livestreaming career was extremely dependent on popularity.

But if he hid it completely, he would miss out on countless publicizable highlight plot points and viral moments. He had regretted hiding his ”pay-to-win” identity countless times, but there was no turning back—at least for now, hiding it had indeed brought quite a few benefits.

”Lord Fu Hao?”

”??” x 999

”Why aren’t you talking?”

”Did you go to the bathroom?”

Seeing Fu Hao silent for a long time, the chat flooded with question marks. He slowly came back to his senses and made a decision:

”Sorry, today’s livestream will end here. I’ve disappointed everyone.”

”Why so sudden?”

”What a pity ㅠ ㅠ.”

”Streaming for too long must be tiring.”

”Don’t go, Brother Hao ㅠ ㅠ.”

”We haven’t seen enough...”

Ignoring the viewers’ regret and reluctance, Fu Hao decisively ended the livestream.