"Who the hell is that?" Shen Mi Kang tilted slightly while asking. He had a slight curiosity over the name but nothing else. But from Nick's expression, it appears that the person with this name is somewhat important.

But regardless of his ignorance, Shen Mi Kang quickly thought of something else. He already had an inkling of the prominent households in this Nanyao City. Was the Gu Family not a part of them?

Even if the name "Gu Yong Cheng" was not well known, this individual's surname is still "Gu."

"Didn't I say earlier? He's my savior." Nick replied. Shen Mi Kang's ignorance made Nick want to give him a flick on the forehead.

"Anyway, I don't have much hope of meeting him. I thought if I'll give him something as my token of gratitude if we met him around the core area." Nick added and took a cloth sack out from his chest pocket.

Wrapped inside the cloth were several containers with the seasoning Nick obtained from [Harmony] Food Dungeon over the few days.

The containers contained salt, peppercorns, sugar, spices like cumin, and others. These dried seasonings were the items dropped from hunting the Seasoning Slimes for days.

Over the process, Nick only encountered the Condiment Slime and Elite Slime once. Feeling that it could be too early for him to fight against the two monsters, Nick retreated until he collected more experience.

In addition, Nick also found out that the Yuan Qi replenishing effect from the seasoning only happened twice so far from adding them to their dinner. This could mean that there's more secret to be uncovered behind this inconsistency.

"Even if you see him, are you sure this Gu Yong Cheng person will remember you? Don't forget that we rejected the offer to join their Punitive Army. After saying no to them, we're no longer in their concern." Shen Mi Kang said.

His words were harsh but realistic.

After all, Shen Mi Kang was rescued by the people from Pan Punitive Army before he was taken into this city. But until today, not a single person from the Pan Family had come to take a look at his well-being.

That naturally made Shen Mi Kang feel he had been abandoned. Furthermore, it was said that the Pan Household was based near the western side of the Core District. The distance between them to the Golden Expanse House shouldn't be too far away.

"Speaking about this... Wasn't the Gu Family an affiliate of Spring Dragon House? Are you sure those people would be happy seeing someone from Golden Expanse House to meet someone from the Gu Family?" Shen Mi Kang added.

His words made Nick think twice.

After all, the relationship between Escort Agencies wasn't as friendly as it appears on the surface. They might look amicable with one another, but there is plenty of rivalry and infighting happening on the back.

In addition, the Spring Dragon House is like the Golden Expanse House. Both of them were part of the four first-tier Agencies in this city.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Let us worry about those later. We'll need more than half an hour's walk to reach the Core District." Nick said. Regardless of Shen Mi Kang's reminder and warning, it wasn't enough to dampen his mood for a walk.

To Nick, meeting Gu Yong Cheng was just an excuse. His initial intention was to observe the situation outside Golden Expanse House and keep himself updated with the good's prices.

He did so to catch up with what was in demand. After all, Nick's accumulated knowledge was what the Golden Expanse House allowed their lower-position member to know. Unless he managed to climb to the supervisor position, it could be difficult for Nick to open his horizon.

Apparently, the citizen of Nanyao City wasn't restricted to just one Escort Agency but was free to move around as they saw fit. This means one could be more than just a regular member in all four first-tier Escort Agencies and take on the missions they had.

Of course, mentioning is easy compared to the effort required to achieve that.

Furthermore, it appears that there are five types of legal tender accepted in Nanyao City. Their reason for issuing so many kinds of legal tender was to promote the economy through inner competition.

After all, there's a limit to what the provincial administration can do. And apparently, the administration believes that allowing the city to have its own local tender would make it much easier to handle corruption on many levels.

The first four local currencies were minted and issued by the first-tier Escort Agencies, better known as the Spring Token, Golden Token, Horse Token, and Protector Token. Their monetary value was similar but more widely used in their own districts.

For example, the Golden Token Nick and Shen Mi Kang had is widely accepted from the South to the West Districts, but not the case around the North to East Districts.

As to why they practiced this, it was all due to the private agreement between the Four Agencies, Five Families, and Nanyao Administration.

The fifth legal tender was the Government-minted iron, copper, silver, and gold coins. These currencies were also called national coins because they were minted by the government and would remain legal outside the province.

"Hey, brothers! What about trying our restaurant's braised ribs?"

"Customers! We had new stock of Seven-Step Drunken Wine recently! Come have a try!"

"What about coming in and allow our beauties to accompany you with some music and dancing?"

Constant calls to patronize their businesses came to Nick and Shen Mi Kang wherever they went. In an estimated figure, they had been approached at least ten times on their way to the Core District.

Because this was their first time stepping out of the Golden Expanse community, the people's pushiness almost overwhelmed the two.

Especially... When they walked past the brothel.

The beauties might pull the two into the pavilion if they failed to abstain when pushing past the barricade. After all, these premises were known for attracting people with thick pockets inside before leaving empty-handed and fatigued an hour or two later.

After half an hour of walking, the two eventually came to the waterway separating the Core District from the Southwestern District.

"Stop right there. Do you have the access pass to enter the Core District?" a guard stopped the two just as they were about to walk past the bridge leading into the Core District.

This obstruction also made them observe the others that walked past them unchecked.

It appears that all of them had a certain badge of approval. Of course, these badges come in several colors.

"We... We actually need an access pass to enter this district?" Shen Mi Kang stuttered. His heart started to bleed from the of paying an entrance fee.

"That's correct, country bumpkins. That's the rule here. Those that don't originate from Core District will have to pay the fee of five hundred points worth of Local Tokens for a weekly access token into this place." said the guard.

"Five! Five hundred points!" Shen Mi Kang's soul flew out of his body from the shock.

"Or, if you're just coming to get something done, you can also get the daily approval for a hundred points." the guard added. But even his cheaper option was more than Nick and Shen Mi Kang could afford.