Meat

Monsters were inside their cages, all of them docile thanks to the runic crests that existed on all of their bodies.

They weren't particularly strong Monsters; around E and D-Tier at most.

Nothing was particularly special about these creatures, except perhaps what they were feeding on.

Rey saw it clearly—the body parts of human beings.

The corpses were already pale and dull-looking, most likely the cause of being dead for a considerable length of time.

'I see. So they feed the dead ones to the Monsters…' Rey found his thoughts trailing.

At this point, he had reached emotional lull.

Even without [Dead Calm] he found it difficult to be shocked or furious at the scene playing out in front of him.

Perhaps he was desensitized.

Maybe he was simply tired.

Either way, Rey looked at everything with dead eyes.

'So, they make the slaves have sex with themselves to breed, and those who have reached expiration are sent to the Monsters as feed.'

It made sense why Scylla would want more offspring now.

At the very least, they could serve as meat for the Monsters; especially since they wouldn't have much value otherwise.

'They look healthy, which means they're being fed well.'

Rey observed the way the creatures ate their meal, not even disturbed by his presence or the fact that he had just killed their caretakers.

'How many humans have they eaten already? I don't know. I can't even estimate.'

Rey counted the creatures in an attempt to get the numbers.

'They're only about a hundred Monsters. I don't know how long they've been here, but if I assume it's recent, that means they'll have at least fed them hundreds of people—if not a thousand.'

It was no wonder the other Warehouses were empty or abandoned.

'Scylla fed the slaves of the other Slave Traders to her Monsters. Was she trying to rear them for war, or maybe for commercial reasons?'

The crests on the Monsters made it so that they would obey their Master's instruction. It was very possible that Scylla was trying to make Monster Slaves.

'No one has ever done that in the entire history of the Alliance… no, even before then.'

If Scylla was trying to break into a new market, using Monsters as the commodity, Rey could understand a lot of her actions.

In fact, he found it impressive.

'How much profit would she be able to gain from it? If she took control of the Royal Dungeon, just how high would the profit margin be?'

A lot of these questions swirled in his mind as the crunching sounds of Monsters devouring human flesh echoed in the air.

In the end, he found himself more curious then he imagined—enough to instruct his replica not to kill anyone he encountered in the other room.

'I need to know more…' Rey thought to himself.

Since he was pretty much done with his investigation here, Rey turned his back on the Monsters, his [Severing Claw] instantly turning them into slobs of meat.

'The Monster Cores are useless to me. Maybe the Alliance will find use for them once they investigate these parts…'

~VWUSH!~

Rey exited the room and instantly teleported to the location of his replica.

Once again, he was greeted by a pure white room, though considerably smaller than the Monster Room.

More surprising than the squeaky-clean nature of the room was what kind of place it was.

The place was a stark example of a classy kitchen.

'I never expected to see something like this here…' Rey mused as he looked at half a dozen individuals who were currently paralyzed—courtesy of his Replica.

"Good job."

As Rey uttered these words, he fused back with the other version of himself.

He took a close look at the suspended men and noticed how they were dressed like chefs.

Pure white apparels, with the chef hats and everything. The pristine kitchen, the grand decor, the clean white ambiance…

… This seemed like the dream kitchen anyone would want to eat their meals from.

However—

"What is that meat?" Rey pointed at the slab of flesh that was placed on a large tray atop a counter.

He didn't need an answer to the question.

[A portion of human flesh]

That was what his Skill, [Absolute Appraisal], told him.

"You're preparing human meat… here?"

Disgust swelled within his stomach the moment a second question surfaced

'For who…?'

This didn't look like a place where food for Monsters was being prepared. It appeared to be an exquisite place made for the most distinguished of people.

Rey could see spices and a bunch of other ingredients in the large kitchen that told him that these chefs were preparing a delicacy.

He could smell something cooking—like fresh stew.

It felt absolutely amazing.

It almost made him salivate just from a single whiff.

However, there was no way anything made from this place could be appetizing to him.

Beyond this kitchen, Rey could sense a door that led to another room.

He feared what he would see there, but his curiosity got the best of him so he instantly teleported to the location.

What he found… was horrible.

Human meat, hung as if they belonged to some kind of cattle in an abattoir.

The room was freezing cold, though Rey felt none of it.

All he felt was sheer disgust.

Rey wanted to vomit.

His vision blurred as the information he received began to overwhelm him. He even staggered a little and struggled to find his footing.

His head turned back and forth as he looked at the shelves in the cold room, only to find packets of already sliced meat—all human, of course—with certain names inscribed on them.

'Names of… people? I know some of those names!'

They belonged to some rather famous merchants or rich elites in the Alliance

Of course, some of those names were obscure. They didn't know everyone, but he could picture the faces of a few.

Some were known by many to be corrupt, while others were viewed as pious and incredibly good-natured.

'Why… why are their names here?'

The packages had human meat, but it couldn't belong to those people.

Rey knew they some of them were very much alive, and it would make no sense for them to be turned into meat—

especially since their value being alive far outweighed them being dead.

Then, a dark thought coursed through his mind.

The same question he had before reappeared inside his mind.

'All this meat… who is it for?'

Rey felt like he already had the answers to his inquiry, but he wasn't satisfied.

He couldn't be!

So he teleported back to the chefs and raised one with his hand.

Utilizing [Compulsion], he easily gained access to the man's mind and asked him the simple question.

"The meat in that cold room, who are they for?"

"Our customers…" The man muttered in response.

"Who are you customers?"

"Madam Scylla's friends… in her inner circle."

Rey knew this was enough for him, but he had to be sure.

He had to hear it straight.

"What… what do they do with the meat?"

The answer was one Rey should have already known, yet once he heard it, his eyes widened considerably.

Puke swelled from the depths of his throat, and not fluids rose from his bloodshot eyes.

The abominable horror that was uttered was forever burned into Rey's mind.

"They eat the meat."