"Supervisor Rou!" someone greeted Rou Mian Fen as soon as the group came to a well-guarded entrance with several patrolling teams walking around. More remarkably, this site appeared to have water trenches dug all around to increase its defensive force in case of enemy attack.

Some people might say it would be a safety hazard, but that was the least of their worries. After all, only two kinds of people would come close to these places. One is the patrolling guards. And two, the attackers.

There's no reason for others to come to these sites on purpose unless there's something for them to do.

"Get the door open for me. And inform the third manager about my return. Tell him that I am back with three new members." Rou Mian Fen said. At the same time, he handed an authorization token to the patrolling team.

This was a rule set by the first patriarch of Golden Expanse House, where everyone who entered the community would have to display an identity token for access, or it would be considered an attempt at betrayal.

The rule naturally applied to Rou Mian Fen and the rest. Only the current patriarch was exempted from this rule. In addition, Nick, Shen Mi Kang, and the third guy Ah-Fei also had their bodies searched before entering this community for the first time.

"Captain, all clear!" the inspecting teams reported after finding nothing suspicious about Nick and the others.

"Supervisor Rou, please forgive us for the delay." the patrol team leader said while returning the token to Rou Mian Fen.

"We all have our responsibilities. Good job, everyone." Rou Mian Fen was full of smiles while he took his token back from the guard leader. And with a signal, he had Nick and the rest follow him closely as they walked past the entrance.

"Let me welcome everyone to the Golden Expanse House, the best of three escort agencies in this Southwestern District." Rou Mian Fen proudly pointed his palm at where he wanted Nick and the others to look.

He appeared prideful while showing Nick and the others a proper look at their Golden Expanse inner area, which seemed to be a small business community. This neighborhood was about a few acres wide and filled with attractive businesses like brothels, gambling dens, and bathhouses.

Naturally, the inns and eateries here are more than Nick could see while walking past the Southern District. This difference was too noticeable, but there's an obvious reason for this.

Naturally, that's because the Golden Expanse House had more to offer. Being an escort agency, it is normal to have more merchandise than the rest of the local businesses.

"Had any of you worked with a spirit user before this?" Rou Mian Fen asked. The group appeared to be heading to a certain building further into the business community.

"Yes." Shen Mi Kang answered.

As for Nick and Ah-Fei, the two shook their head.

Apparently, Nick and Ah-Fei had brushed past death when the demonkind attacked their village. And unlike Nick, Ah-Fei's village had three survivors who survived the attack.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The three were actually in the same group in yesterday's awakening ritual. And Ah-Fei was actually one of the two individuals who awakened a Plant Spirit.

His awakened Plant Spirit is why Ah-Fei decisively requested to move from Spring Dragon House to Golden Expanse House. Since the former is more of an agency that excels in fighting, Ah-Fei felt he would perform badly there compared to the latter agency.

"In that case, I'll first walk the three of you through the demographic of Nanyao City." Rou Mian Fen said. Although Shen Mi Kang had the experience, it wouldn't hurt to listen.

"First and foremost, everyone should know that the four central districts are where the residential area was located. As for businesses and the military, they're situated in the four corner districts."

"Next would be the core district, where the leading powerhouses of all Nanyao City were situated. That's also where the Province's administration is based." Rou Mian Fen continued.

"I'm sure that the three of you were rescued by the Punitive Forces. But which one?" the supervisor quickly added with curiosity.

"Gu Punitive Army." Nick answered.

"Pan Punitive Army." Shen Mi Kang and Ah-Fei mentioned the same name. Apparently, their village of these two was located up the west.

"Oh. No wonder the two of you have a clue about our Golden Expanse House. As for you, I'm surprised you didn't go to the Spring Dragon House. That escort agency is deeply involved with the Gu Family, if you're curious." said Rou Mian Fen.

"That's because I'm not told by them where to go before this." Nick quickly came up with an excuse. He naturally couldn't bring Gu Yong Cheng's name up in their discussion. Furthermore, bringing this matter up is pointless because he rejected their offer two days ago.

"Well, regardless of where you came from, you're now a part of Nanyao City and part of our Golden Expanse House's members. We will naturally take good care of everyone here." Rou Mian Fen continued.

"As this was your first day, I'll try to avoid getting too much into the pointless details. But there's something you must know as a member of our Golden Expanse House." Rou Mian Fen said.

"Here, we run on Contribution points to exchange for necessary resources. And to obtain them, you naturally had to accomplish various available agency missions." the group arrived at a specific building just as Rou Mian Fen was done with his words.

Since this was not his first time doing the recruitment, he already had a rough idea of how long it would take to get here from the entrance and what to discuss on their way. And naturally, showing is always a better example than talking.

"This is the Contribution Hall for Golden Expanse Members. Everything can be done here, from taking missions to exchanging points and purchasing or selling resources."

"Ah-Fei, you should be able to make a good living here thanks to your wheat-base Innate Spirit. But remember, a Plant Spirit also needs more resources to improve than Tool or Beast Spirits. So, do not be too prideful early on." Rou Mian Fen added, making sure that Af-Fei heard his words.

"I will, supervisor." Ah-Fei responded to him instantly and ensured he kept Rou Mian Fen's advice at heart.

"As for you two... Both of you can read and write, correct?" Rou Mian Fen moved his attention to Nick and Shen Mi Kang.

"Yes." the two quickly nodded.

"That's good," he said. "Both of you should start patiently and gradually get yourself used to the place first. The Golden Expanse hires many people for different types of work, but suitable or not, that's ultimately up to you." Rou Mian Fen added.

It appears that life here was quite stressful in a way.

Although this was a different world and quite a magical one on top of that. Still, the people here could not escape the hurtful truth that the resources were limited. And apparently, due to the constant war with the demonkind, this situation restricts the people even further, making every ear of grains, drop of water, and piece of wood more precious than anything else.

If not for the Innate Spirit's help out there, perhaps, humanity here would have been extinct due to the lack of resources.

Their short visit here allowed Nick and the other two to expose themselves to reality while waiting for Rou Mian Fen to prepare their identity tokens.

The short wait here also made Nick realize that the Yuan Qi Turquoise Fruit they ate yesterday was also a kind of Cultivation resource. Furthermore, it was something that cost five Contribution Points.

(Really? Five points for a fruit? Then what do we get from the employment?)

The price of the resources caught Nick's attention as he randomly checked out an agency mission.