39: Chapter 39 Restricted Release

"Your Highness, do you really intend to hand over Lepis Territory?"

Prince Carlson's confidant asked, he was the close aide who knew all of the Prince's secrets, his voice laced with hesitation and worry.

"If it weren't for Fu Hao, I wouldn't even have the chance to reach this point today."

Prince Carlson responded in a low voice, his gaze as calm as the night.

"But deep beneath Lepis Territory sleeps your long-cherished wish... that ancient ruin..."

"To be precise, it is the ruin deep in the Great Forest," Prince Carlson said with an unhurried tone. "If Fu Hao cannot revive Lepis Territory, then the ruin is nothing more than a castle in the air, a meaningless dream."

"Does Your Highness truly believe he can revive this wasteland?"

"I cannot say for sure," Prince Carlson looked into the distance, "but compared to his ability, I trust his financial power more."

If Fu Hao could truly rebuild Lepis Territory, Prince Carlson intended to tell him personally about the existence of the ruin in the Great Forest.

"I hope he can obtain those ancient relics..."

Prince Carlson pondered, an image of Fu Hao bearing the power of the ruin appearing in his mind; it was hard to imagine how far he would grow.

---

At this moment, Fu Hao, having turned off his stream, was struggling to calm his turbulent emotions.

"Calm down... must calm down."

The scale of his stream was expanding rapidly, and his viewership was surging. This should have been a happy occasion, but the ensuing voices of doubt followed him like a shadow.

After all, he was an ordinary person. Facing the overwhelming suspicion, he couldn't remain completely indifferent. Even if he deliberately avoided them, some comments had already taken root in his heart.

How could he display his "money power" during the stream as much as possible without raising suspicion?

He pondered repeatedly, his thoughts colliding in his mind like a trapped beast, yet he could never find the answer. Eventually, he decided to start with what he could do right now—first, browse the community's reaction; perhaps he could find a way to keep the territory running normally without relying on pay-to-win.

"If the territory given by the First Prince were normal, I wouldn't have to rack my brains so much."

He sighed while scrolling through the forum page, until a title caught his attention:

[Regarding Fu Hao's identity, the operation team's reply (+13,522 comments)]

Fu Hao's heart tightened—the operation team of "otherworld" had always avoided discussing accusations of exploits and hacks. How could someone actually receive an official reply regarding his identity?

"No wonder I always had a sense of unease."

The thing he didn't want to face had finally come.

"But why didn't anyone mention it during the stream?"

He clicked on the post with trepidation and confusion:

---

Title: Operation Team's Reply on Fu Hao's Identity

Author: Tan Zhi

Hello everyone, I am the original poster who was asking about Fu Hao's identity every day. Today, I finally received a reply!

The question content is as follows: Is Fu Hao using some kind of exploit or hack? I compiled his total spending to date, and in less than two weeks, it has actually exceeded 500 million. Is this really reasonable? Please confirm if he is using exploits or illegal means to farm crystals or gold coins.

The operation team's reply is as follows:

Upon investigation, we confirm that all of Fu Hao's data is normal, and there are no traces of using exploits or hacks.

I hereby apologize to Brother Hao for my previous suspicions!

[Selected Comments]

This is the first time I've seen the operation team reply to such a question.

I received it yesterday too, I'm truly shocked.

To spend enough money to make the operation team make an exception, just how much did Brother Hao spend?

Those who said it was a bug before, come out and apologize!

How could commoners understand the world of the rich...

Tianma also spends a lot, why did no one suspect him?

Tianma spent 500 million in two years, Fu Hao spent 500 million in two weeks, can they be the same?

Operation team certified rich "Brother Hao"!

If he keeps spending, the game company will really have to build a building for him!

---

After reading the comments, Fu Hao let out a long sigh of relief. Judging from the overall atmosphere, the operation team's reply basically dispelled most people's suspicions.

"With the official certification..."

He didn't know if the operation team was paying special attention to him, but this reply was enough to unlock the shackle that had been aching in his heart.

"Since I've already been labeled a 'pay-to-win player,' why not just let myself go completely?"

The corners of his mouth curled up, as if his previous wavering had never existed.

---

After restarting the stream, Fu Hao immediately began expanding his inventory slots and weight limit.

[Do you wish to add 10 inventory slots? Consumes 1000 crystals (cost increases with the number of slots)]

[Do you wish to increase the weight limit by 500? Consumes 1500 crystals (cost increases with weight value)]

- "He's streaming again!"

- "Is he... paying to expand his inventory?"

["Class" tipped 50 yuan. — (Why suddenly expand inventory?)]

"I need to move grain," Fu Hao responded simply.

The audience originally thought he was going to make a big move again, and they all held their breath in anticipation. However, they soon discovered that this "pay-to-win" operation seemed somewhat unusual:

[Do you wish to add 10 inventory slots? Consumes 2000 crystals]

[Do you wish to increase the weight limit by 500? Consumes 2500 crystals]

Even though the consumption was snowballing, Fu Hao still showed no signs of stopping.

["Jin Hao" tipped 50 yuan. — (It has already exceeded 500,000...)]

["Paramana" tipped 50 yuan. — (Please stop, the game company is really going to build a new building)]

["Ke Le Wei" tipped 50 yuan. — (Does Brother Hao need a porter? 500 slots, 10,000 weight limit, fair price~)]

- "Brother Hao has gone crazy with his spending."

- "He must have been driven crazy by that crappy territory from the First Prince, right?"

- "Isn't it more cost-effective to hire players as porters? Like me."

- "He's about to surpass Tianma's cumulative spending."

It wasn't until he heard the prompt "exceeded 1 million" that Fu Hao briefly stopped his operation.

- "Finally stopped?"

"Not finished yet, rest for five minutes, then keep buying."

- "Brother Hao is acting like this suddenly, is he protesting against the operation team with his spending?"

The audience speculated about his motives, but no one thought that this was actually the first time Fu Hao had truly let himself go with his spending.

After consuming about 1.5 million crystals, Fu Hao finally stopped.

"This should be enough to move all the grain at once."

- "Forget one shipment of grain, you could empty an entire city."

- "A walking logistics miracle."

Next, he took out the teleportation gem from his inventory—it was originally intended for arming the territory, but now that the situation was urgent, there was no need to hide his strength anymore.

After confirming the grain sale location with Administrator Lapis, Fu Hao set the nearest Teleportation coordinate.

Thanks to Prince Carlson's thirty confidants being scattered across the kingdom to grind monsters, he had long since mastered the geographical information of every corner of the Rowen Kingdom.

After handing the teleportation gem and a large amount of gold coins to Administrator Lapis, and patiently teaching him how to use it, the two of them activated the Teleportation together.

[Using teleportation gem]

[Consumes 600 gold coins based on travel distance]

[Teleporting... 5... 4...]

- "600 gold coins just for Teleportation? Doesn't that mean he spent 300 yuan?"

- "Give the gold coins to me, I'll open a magic Teleportation array for you."

- "Does the team need anyone else? Professional mage, Teleportation array specialist~"

This aggressive operation had only just begun.

---

"Your Highness, Fu Hao... he did it."

"Did what?"

"Lepis Territory has already returned to normal operation."

"...So fast?"

It had only been a short week since it was enfeoffed as a Viscount territory.

Prince Carlson took the report presented by his confidant:

Day 1: Procured enough grain to feed a million people for over half a year.

Day 2: Issued a promotional announcement to all former residents of Lepis Territory: "Return to enjoy free grain and job opportunities."

Day 3: The original residents who had left began to return.

Day 6: Opened various job opportunities such as military service registration, monster material decomposition, ore smelting, and construction.

After reading the report, a trace of undisguisable astonishment appeared in Prince Carlson's eyes.

"He must have spent quite a lot of money, right?"

"Yes."

"But how was the grain transported within a single day? He hasn't mastered space magic."

Space magic is a 10th-tier myth-grade magic that transcends legends; Fu Hao, who had just reached level 100, could absolutely not have learned it.

"Could it be using an adventurer's inventory?"

"If the inventory could really be used like space magic, no one would be adventuring anymore; everyone would have gone into business."

"That's true..."

Prince Carlson and his confidant deduced repeatedly, but they still could not understand Fu Hao's methods—even the audience who witnessed the whole process could hardly fathom it, let alone mere NPCs.

---

"Now... it finally looks like a real territory."

Surveying the brand-new Lepis Territory, Fu Hao nodded with satisfaction. The land that was once desolate was now bustling with crowds and full of life.

["Jin Hao" tipped 50 yuan. — (But the financial status is still...)]

Of course, the price for all this was extremely severe—due to purchasing grain and large-scale expansion, Lepis Territory was already in debt by over 500 million gold coins. In terms of financial ratings, it could be called the worst in history.

However, these debts were all recorded under Fu Hao's personal name, and the territory information page did not show any negative numbers.

"Everything is basically ready, the only regret is... the number of knights."

- "Only one knight currently?"

- "At this scale, there should be at least a hundred."

- "How about going to ask the First Prince for some?"

As the final piece of the puzzle for the territory to return to normal, the number of knights in Lepis Territory remained at the pitiful value of "1." Fu Hao, who had originally intended to publish a "Free Knight Recruitment" announcement, suddenly remembered the legendary knight—Helm.

If he could recruit Helm under his command, it would surely attract countless admirers to flock over.

Fu Hao made up his mind: even if the price was "death," he would try to recruit Helm.