Unfortunately, some of the prisoners didn't seem as though they would be able to enjoy their newfound freedom for long. Given how long they had been imprisoned, even the strongest, sturdiest hunters would have received irreversible damage to their body.

An old man who walked out of the dungeon was so agitated by the light that he passed away almost as he stepped into the sun. Zhang Lie and the others watched on as his body was cremated.

His life had been unlucky, but his last moments had been marked by a stroke of luck. He had died feeling the warmth of sunlight on his face, understanding that there were people who had ventured out into the lands of the sura to rescue him. How many prisoners had died in vain, buried without even the hope of rescue?

What was most frightening was that such dungeons were commonplace throughout the capital, not just the palace. The sura had reared humans like livestock, and there was even a large human farm within the capital.

There were over five hundred humans within, as well as human bones numbering in the tens of thousands. The search parties ended up rescuing over a thousand imprisoned humans, most of which were female.

This was only one of the sura's many kingdoms. How many humans were held in captivity all throughout the lands of the sura?

Some of these humans had been captured by the sura while on one expedition or another, while others came from cities or settlements that the sura had destroyed. The human fighters shuddered; if not for Zhang Lie, they could well have ended up in similar straits.

Hong Xi asked, "Why is it that so many of these human women are pregnant, but we haven't seen any babies?"

Zhang Lie glanced at her warily. "You don't want to know the answer to that."

Victory was exhilarating, but the aftermath of the victory left much to be desired. No human could be excited at seeing their own kind as livestock.

Zhang Lie suddenly asked, "Sun Mengmeng, didn't you ask how we were going to deal with the sura captives we ended up with?"

Sun Mengmeng was silent.

"We'll send them all to Qi, then rear them like livestock ourselves."

Li Feng clenched his fists tightly. "No—just kill them and end this feud once and for all."

Zhang Lie replied coldly, "Barbarians might eat each other, but civilized folk wouldn't. Nevertheless, their revenge might well be something far worse than anything barbarians could come up with. We'll set up a laboratory for investigating the sura in Qi. I'm sure the scientists of the world federation will be very interested in their preternatural strength."

The sura would be lab rats, stepping stones for the advancement of humanity. This series of research might not bear fruit for a century or two, but these sura surely wouldn't fare any better as lab rats than as livestock.

After all, biological research often ended up mutilating its test subjects.

The special forces troops that Xia Na led, responsible for searching the sura palace, came back dragging three human women. These women all had their mouths secured by gags, but unlike the other captives that Zhang Lie and the others had found, they were clean, ornamented, and dressed beautifully.

Although these women were tied up, they struggled furiously at their captivity.

Hong Xi asked, "Who are these women?"

Sun Xiaowu frowned. "The sura king has regular human concubines too?"

Li Feng commented, "If I recall correctly, the sura king was only interested in human men. Why would he keep these women?"

Xia Na motioned for her men to remove their gags. "Let's hear what they have to say, shall we?"

As they did so, they could hear one of the women shouting furiously, "What are all of you doing?! How could you assault our lands just like that? You're all demons and devils—unhand the sura you've kept prisoner and scram! You'll receive retribution for what you've done, this I swear!"

Zhang Lie and his retinue were shocked by the woman's surprising reaction.

She continued, "Both the humans and the sura are capable of negotiating with each other, and any violence like what you've displayed should be met with harsh censure. Given how magnificent the sura are, it's only natural that they would rule over the humans. What right do you have to attack them senselessly, to beat and kill them? Who gave you that authority?!"

Instead of listening to her harangue, Zhang Lie sent a punch in her direction, causing her head to burst open like a ripe watermelon.

Blood sprayed the nearby hunters as they jerked, not expecting that Zhang Lie would kill a fellow human so easily.

"They've all been brainwashed, and it's far too late for them. End their misery," Zhang Lie commanded.

Hong Xi rubbed her temples. "Are we really going to kill our own kind?"

Xia Na folded her arms. "These women are a blight to us all."

Li Feng asked, "Why would these women behave in this manner? Surely they can't stand the atrocities done to their fellow captives?"

Instead of replying, Xia Na asked, "Are you familiar with kobe beef?"

Li Feng nodded. "Allegedly, their pastures are the greenest, their grass is the freshest, they drink spring water from deep in the mountains, and they listen to music and get specialized massages as part of their daily routine.

"There are specialists that plan out every aspect of their life, and they're apparently even more expensive to rear than a human. They're killed when their meat is the tastiest, and beef from these cows sell for an astronomical price."

Xia Na nodded. "In principle, you could easily do the same to humans—have them drink water infused with spiritual energy, the flesh of superior- or higher-grade lifeforms prepared by the best chefs, and let them enjoy all measure of pleasant activities. Give them whatever they want, and when they grow into their prime, kill them in their sleep. Their flesh will be tastier than that of any other human."

Simultaneously wanting and not wanting to confirm her suspicions, Hong Xi asked, "In that case, these women are..."

"Nothing more than livestock reared by the sura king, yes. In order to enhance the taste of their flesh even further, they're free to roam within the lands of the sura and able to eat whatever they want. As long as their demands aren't too extreme, the sura will do all they can to satisfy them.

"They're treated as VIP guests wherever they go, allowed to buy whatever they want, and protected by the emperor's own guards. In the end, however, their fate is one and the same: to be consumed like kobe beef. 

"In some sense, they're no better than the sura. They've been brainwashed their entire life, and it's only natural that they would despise us like the sura themselves."

Li Feng nodded his head, convinced. "In that case, it really doesn't make sense to let them live."