Jiang Fu’s flashy maneuver left everyone stunned and unable to process what had just happened.
She could do that? It could actually be done like that?
So from the very beginning, she had never intended to kill Li Wei. Instead, she used “Li Wei’s death” as bait to draw out anyone itching to make a move—then wiped them all out in one sweep!
How could she do this?!
The onlookers were dumbfounded. As for people like Li Wenbo, they were trembling with rage. A dignified base commander—how could she be so… so shameless! How was this any different from luring dogs in just to slaughter them?
They immediately reached for their phones, intending to pass the message along to their accomplices: the situation had changed, lie low for now.
But when they looked—no signal.
They checked other people’s phones. Still no signal.
Li Wenbo suddenly looked up, peering past layers of bodies toward Jiang Fu, who stood there calmly and at ease, watching the people from Li Family Village plead and regret their actions.
Signal jamming.
She had deliberately blocked any news from getting out.
Yes—Jiang Fu had long since ordered the signals in the area to be cut. And at the very moment she appeared here, the same thing was happening elsewhere across the base.
Those more than one thousand cases in which the supposed victims had suddenly reversed their statements and filed appeals were almost all being retried simultaneously. With communication cut off between locations, the people jumping out to shout and stir trouble had no way of knowing that what awaited them ahead was the full labor camp package.
If she didn’t make these restless troublemakers hurt all at once, wouldn’t this whole setup be wasted?
Watching the restless crowd fidget and attempt to slip away, she smiled.
“Since you’re already here, why rush off? Director Liang, let’s proceed with the second case.”
With a loud clang, the outer gates shut. From somewhere unknown, a squad suddenly appeared and surrounded all the spectators.
The crowd: “……”
So they were being forced to keep watching? This was outright bandit behavior! What was wrong with this new base commander? How had no one noticed before?
Liang Xie cast Jiang Fu a deep look before sitting back down and ordering the personnel for the second case to be brought in.
Jiang Fu did not stay to watch. While the crowd buzzed with discussion, she quietly retreated. Resentment coiled around her body; light bent and warped as it passed over her skin, creating an effect akin to invisibility—so much so that even the surveillance cameras failed to capture her.
Just like that, she walked out right under the guards’ noses.
Amid the crowd, Jiang Fu suddenly lifted her head and looked toward the entrance. The next instant, she vanished from where she stood and appeared directly at the main gate.
She scanned left and right.
Damn it—she couldn’t sense even a trace of that presence anymore.
Had that person just left? No… when had she even arrived?
She hadn’t noticed a thing. Last time, that person could trip on the stairs—yet now she was coming and going freely right in front of her. Had she evolved?
Her expression darkened.
Liang Xie hurried after her. “Governor, what’s wrong?”
Jiang Fu steadied herself. “Nothing.”
But she had already lost interest in staying.
“Aunt Liang, I’ll leave the rest to you. Whoever jumps out—just send them all to the labor camp.”
“…Understood.”
…
In a single day, more than a thousand cases were retried. More than a thousand groups of people fell into the pit. The newly completed labor camp in one of the base’s mining districts suddenly received tens of thousands of new arrivals, and production efficiency shot up dramatically.
And that wasn’t all. The number of people implicated kept growing. Take Duan Fang, for example—someone who had been bought off. Once the person behind her was uncovered, it was like pulling up a radish and bringing up all the dirt clinging to it—an entire chain of people followed.
Jiang Fu: “At this rate, the base won’t be short of heavy labor any time soon.”
Those who had been plotting trouble were terrified—truly terrified. This new governor simply did not play by the rules. Whether logic was sound or twisted, it all worked in her favor. Better not go against her—who knew what kind of trap she might have already dug and left waiting ahead?
Those who had been obedient and had no intention of stirring up trouble, after understanding the full story, thought: The Governor is amazing. Long live the Governor!
In short, Jiang Fu executed one batch, trapped another batch, then implicated yet another by association, cleaning up everyone who needed cleaning up in one swift sweep. The first blaze of the new official burned fiercely. For a time, the voices criticizing her grew much quieter, and the base sank into a strange sort of calm and harmony.
After that, whether she was working, holding meetings, or issuing orders, everything went astonishingly smoothly. It was almost too smooth—she found herself a little unaccustomed to it.
Moreover, the voices calling her cruel had almost completely disappeared. She felt a twinge of disappointment. She actually didn’t mind being a tyrant. Now that no one opposed her, she almost felt embarrassed to pull any more outrageous maneuvers.
There was just one thing. She noticed that the male subordinates within her line of sight generally didn’t look well. Puffy and haggard. Headaches and chest pains. Bloating and diarrhea. Loss of appetite. Fatigue. Sore backs and weakness. In short, each one looked half-dead.
Jiang Fu complained to Jiang Shiyue, “They can’t do anything to me, so are they using this kind of passive state as silent resistance?”
Jiang Shiyue: “……”
Jiang Shiyue said, “Let’s talk about something serious. Recently, we’ve noticed that the wild mutant beasts have been unusually restless. Mutated plants are growing at an alarming rate. Even the zombies are highly agitated—frequently active even at noon, when the sunlight is strongest.”
Jiang Fu frowned. “When something’s abnormal, there’s usually something strange behind it. I’ll personally go out of the base to take a look. I was planning an inspection tour anyway.”
After a pause, she added thoughtfully, “Do you think the men’s abnormalities could be related to these changes?”
Jiang Shiyue was taken aback and hesitated. “Probably not? If there were an effect, why would it only affect men?”
The secretary hurried in. “Governor, Minister Jiang, something’s happened to Li Wenbo.”
Jiang Shiyue said, “One of the minor ringleaders who was plotting behind the scenes? Didn’t he just get locked up? What happened?”
The secretary’s expression was odd. “He’s urinating blood.”
Jiang Shiyue: “…What?”
Jiang Fu was speechless. “If he’s urinating blood, then he’s urinating blood. Bad kidneys? He can pay for treatment himself. No money? Then he can tough it out. I’m not footing the bill. Finish investigating him and send him to labor reform as soon as possible.”
“It’s not just blood in the urine. He also has persistent dribbling. Several of his accomplices are urinating blood too. And some of the other detained men as well… The doctor says it doesn’t seem to be as simple as just hematuria and asked that you come take a look.”
Jiang Fu and Jiang Shiyue exchanged a glance, both surprised.
By the time they arrived at the detention center, the metallic smell of blood was overwhelming. Li Wenbo and his accomplices, along with several other men being held for investigation, lay on their beds soaked in blood-stained trousers, clutching their stomachs and rolling back and forth in agony. Their faces were drained of color, their lips bitten raw, cries of pain rising one after another.
Jiang Fu covered her nose and used her spiritual power to block out the smell of blood. She asked the doctor, “Were they poisoned? Or did you use torture?”
Even severe hematuria shouldn’t look like this.
The doctor had been transferred from the research institute’s medical department. A practitioner of unorthodox cultivation, he stared at the stack of test reports, flipping through them again and again with a deep frown, as if he had discovered some unprecedented medical anomaly. Then he called out to Jiang Fu.
“Governor, come take a look at this.”
“…I can’t make sense of it either.”
“Anyway, it’s this—abnormal hormone levels, you understand? We’ve tried all kinds of conventional and unconventional methods, but we can’t stop the bleeding. Combining the symptoms from the past few days with what they’re experiencing now…” He muttered on at length before finally concluding, “Put on a pad, take some painkillers, drink more hot water, and observe for a few days. Maybe in one, two, three, or four days it’ll clear up.”
Jiang Fu stared at him in surprise, then looked at Li Wenbo and the others, then back at the cultivator, then at the patients again. Her expression grew increasingly strange.
She seemed to understand something, yet didn’t quite dare confirm it. “You mean…?”
The cultivator had already calmed down, looking like someone who had seen it all. He stroked a nonexistent beard. “In times like these, what strange thing hasn’t happened? Men having periods—it’s normal enough, isn’t it?”
Her head swam. She rapidly considered whether, if this were true, it would affect the base’s development, her future plans… If men were undergoing such a subversive change, would women suddenly develop some bizarre condition too?
She paced back and forth a few times and rubbed her face. “Are you sure?”
“We’ll need to observe one or two cycles to be certain. And the sample size isn’t large enough yet…”
Jiang Fu waved her hand decisively. “Guards! Send all male staff members showing symptoms for physical examinations! And search the entire base for anyone with similar symptoms. Announce it as a possible new epidemic—no one is allowed to conceal their illness!”
She had just finished giving orders when her phone vibrated. The familiar vibration. She picked it up and, sure enough, it was that recognizable number.
[Do you like the gift I sent you?]
…
Jiang Fu sat in a café across from a private clinic, slowly sipping her coffee.
In the apocalypse, only large bases could still afford establishments this flashy and impractical. Flashy though they were, coffee was rare now and sold at high prices; the customers were all high-income individuals.
Cafés, milk tea shops, dessert shops, bars, nightclubs, cinemas—low operating costs, yet quite profitable for the base’s revenue.
Unfortunately, as the “normalization of the apocalypse” progressed and living conditions deteriorated again, these shops would gradually become unsustainable.
Through the large glass wall, she watched the clinic across the street. A man in dark trousers, legs awkwardly spread, clutching his stomach, slipped inside as if hoping no one would notice.
That made the third in half an hour.
Too embarrassed to go to the hospital, they could only visit private clinics. And there weren’t many private clinics in the base that were both reliable and discreet. Naturally, Jiang Fu had staked out the right spot.
Watching the men’s awkward, miserable postures, she found the coffee in her cup tasted even richer.
She admitted it—she had this kind of petty streak. She enjoyed using such “small-minded” methods to deal with those arrogant, self-important men.
She wasn’t making them sickly. She wasn’t crippling them. She wasn’t turning them into idiots.
She was merely letting them taste women’s troubles.
How was that not a form of mercy?
The black cat leapt onto the table. “Wow, you’re in a great mood!”
Jiang Fu nodded. “Yes. Finally something pleasant to see. All that effort these past days wasn’t wasted.”
She glanced at the cat. “Why are you getting fatter by the day?” It had started as a tiny kitten; now it was practically three sizes rounder.
The black cat stretched lazily. “That bite of the evil bone I chewed contained far too much energy. I’ve been trying my best to digest it. Even with just a tiny bit leaking out, this black cat body still puffed up.”
If it got any fatter, Jiang Fu wouldn’t be able to let it crawl into her pocket anymore.
By contrast, Jiang Fu herself, despite carrying the evil bone, hadn’t changed in build at all—neither fatter nor bulkier. Her bones, muscles, and organs had simply grown sturdier, and her abilities were steadily strengthening. The cat truly admired her. Her energy conversion efficiency was astonishingly high.
Her phone rang. She glanced at the number, unsurprised that the other party had called so impatiently.
She raised a barrier of resentment energy to block out surrounding sounds and answered. A voice rushed through immediately:
“Did you do this to Li Wenbo and the others?”
Hearing that voice made her ears and throat itch. Even holding a conversation like this was a bit taxing.
She altered her tone and spoke bluntly, “I only made it so that every month they’ll have a few days like women do. Aside from that, there are no other side effects. It won’t affect fertility or their sex characteristics. The reaction will just generally be a bit more severe than women’s, and the flow might be heavier. If that means they have to stay in bed and end up anemic or physically weakened, well, that can’t be helped.”
In short, whatever women experienced, these men would now experience every month for a few days—about twenty to thirty percent worse.
On the other end, Jiang Fu fell silent for a moment. After a while, she asked, “Why… did you do this?”
Jiang Fu didn’t answer directly. “The ones affected are basically men in high positions, controlling key resources, with strong abilities, sharp tongues, and particularly irritating personalities. For now, that’s all of them. It won’t impact the base as a whole. Come up with an explanation—say they’re infected, say they’ve mutated.”
Jiang Fu took a deep breath. “You’re truly insane!”
Jiang Fu was unfazed. “When you say that, try lowering that rising tone in your voice.”
The other side burst out laughing. “Hahahahaha! I can already imagine the looks on their faces when they’re diagnosed! Do you know how often they use biological differences against women? Eight out of ten of them bring it up during competition.”
“They talk about how the smell of blood could attract danger outside the base! How women’s abilities become unstable during their periods! How women’s biology creates weaknesses in combat! How a woman’s primary duty is still to bear children and continue the bloodline! As if having that extra piece between their legs makes them so impressive. And now—haha!”
The voice on the other end sounded like she was slapping her thigh as she spoke. “Your method is vicious, but it hits the exact sore spot. You’re a genius!”
Jiang Fu curved her lips into a faint smile and reminded her, “Keep an eye on their mental health. Don’t let them quietly bottle things up and turn into perverts without you even noticing. Also, the mutant beasts and mutant plants are about to enter a surge period, and the zombies will accelerate their evolution as well. If the high-ranking male ability users start faltering, you’ll need to compensate elsewhere.”
This was the best opportunity for female ability users, female leaders, and female talents to step in and fill the gaps.
If the Jiang Fu here could seize this chance, then in Fu’an Base, the vision of key positions being entirely staffed by women would no longer be just a vision.
She stirred the coffee that was gradually cooling. The things she had once failed to accomplish—let this Jiang Fu accomplish them instead.
By then, she wouldn’t have to worry about the hypersensitive nerves of another gender every time she did something. She wouldn’t have to consider “gender balance” whenever she promoted someone or handed out benefits. She wouldn’t be forced into constant compromise and concessions. She wouldn’t have to remain on guard at all times against that group firing cold shots at her from behind.
And naturally, there would no longer be unforgivable cases like Zhang Tong.
Since this was a game, of course she would play it in whatever way made her most comfortable. What was wrong with creating a base led entirely by women?
On the other side, Jiang Fu fell silent. She had far too many questions she wanted to ask. But because of the other’s power and mystery, because of the goodwill shown toward her, and even more because of that closeness she didn’t want to admit—but that undeniably existed, as if they were somehow on the same wavelength—she forcibly held herself back.
She took a deep breath, lifted a bright smile, and said in a slightly exaggerated tone, “Sister, you’re really my own sister. I’ve got a few men I can’t stand in other bases too—how about sending me a few more gifts?”
“Cough, cough, cough!” Jiang Fu nearly choked at being called “sister.”