Chapter 126: Do You Think There's Food for Prisoners These Days?

Su Mei Mei, who once threatened to accuse Jing Shu of murder, not only failed to bring her down but also inadvertently helped Jing Shu receive a commendation. In the end, Su Mei Mei was the one who got removed from her position.

Now, Jing Shu’s villa had its own welfare officer—one of their own. The remaining 80 or so people in the chat group quickly realized that, while welfare officers wielded significant power—deciding whether they ate or even survived—Jing Shu was even more formidable and terrifying. Anyone who had crossed her seemed to meet a grim fate.

Recently, Chou Chou had developed depression, plagued by nightmares where his eyes were gouged out. He had stumbled upon a terrifying secret. Searching through the chat group for mentions of Jing Shu, he discovered that everyone who had badmouthed her had met with disaster.

The first was Bai, the supermarket owner, who was beaten, his goods confiscated, and eventually died of heatstroke.

The second was Luo Hao from Building 13, who drank industrial water and died after a failed rescue.

The third was a luxury car dealer at 5 Hao, whose store was raided by robbers. Although the robbers had intended to attack Jing Shu’s villa, they all ended up dead, along with the car dealer.

The fourth case involved Zhang Feng, Shi Zi, and Zhu Fan, who accused Jing Shu of being a murderer alongside Su Mei Mei. When they went to Jing Shu’s villa, they were stung by bees. Their wounds not only festered and oozed pus but worsened to the point that they looked like they had been drained of their fluids, their flesh rotting away.

The fifth incident was the five people who attempted to rob Jing Shu’s villa. All had their eyes gouged out.

The sixth was Su Mei Mei herself, who met her downfall after her arrogance and was now nowhere to be seen.

Chou Chou feared he might be next. He had once questioned why they didn’t get to vote on the new welfare officer. Surely, that had offended Jing Shu...

"I’m doomed. I’m doomed..." Chou Chou spiraled into depression.

Jing Shu, of course, had no idea someone in her neighborhood was suffering from depression out of fear of her.

With Su Mei Mei ousted and Wu Youai taking her place, Jing Shu had paid a small price but had successfully secured key positions for her family in agriculture, livestock farming, and as the welfare officer. These were golden jobs in the post-apocalyptic world, giving her family control over food and livestock with legitimate reasons to possess them.

Jing Shu had asked Wu Youai in detail about her kidnapping by Shangguan Jun, learning everything that had been said and done. This incident solidified Wu Youai as a trusted member of Jing Shu’s inner circle.

Jing Shu was never stingy with her own people. After arranging for Wu Youai to get a government job, her third aunt, Jing Lai, was so grateful that she almost swore she would serve them for life.

Wu Youai’s leg, still missing chunks of flesh, was slowly healing. Every day, Jing Shu applied diluted spring water, which had helped her recover enough to walk again, though progress was slow.

"Give it some time before you head home. Your wounds are still too noticeable," Jing Shu advised.

In the scorching heat, if Wu Youai wore long pants, it would raise suspicion. But without them, the gaping wounds in her leg would be all too visible.

However, the welfare officer role had given Wu Youai something to do. Every day, she checked on the residents, verified high-risk individuals flagged by the data system, and kept an eye on key targets.

At the same time, welfare officers across Wucheng began performing their duties, and it became clear just how accurate the data system was.

The most shocking discovery was the "pig farming" case.

In the remote Red Apple Old District, a gang had turned over 100 men into dried meat and kept 60 women as sex slaves, feeding them human flesh. Due to severe water shortages, the women were initially forced to drink blood. Later, the gang began using contaminated corpse water to force them to drink. Many of these women became infected with corpse larvae, which grew inside them and eventually devoured them from the inside out.

The gang had tied the women up, gagging them to prevent suicide, and tortured them for months. The Red Apple District had become a playground for this depraved group, who killed any newcomers—men were slaughtered for food, and women were added to their "pig farm."

It wasn’t until the welfare officers arrived that the government discovered the district’s horrifying state and sent in police forces to wipe out the gang.

The news only mentioned this much. It was one of the bloodiest reports of late June, with the police killing all members of the gang. However, the fate of the remaining 20 women was left unspoken.

Jing Shu knew those women had also been quietly killed.

She wondered if, as Wu Youai’s mentor had predicted, the government was deliberately letting criminals run amok, only to later cull them along with their victims as a solution to the food crisis.

Or maybe, as Jing Shu suspected, the government had known things were off for some time and had been frantically hoarding resources. With limited police forces, chaos had ensued, though government compounds, police family housing, and oil district units had remained well-guarded.

Either way, this was a shift in power, and now the government was finally starting to take action.

The first to fall were the various factions claiming territory and the bandits who declared themselves kings of the apocalypse.

Not just in Wucheng but nationwide, police forces that had previously been absent suddenly reappeared, shooting robbers on sight, killing those who had taken over districts, and executing anyone with a data score above 100.

Wang Qiqi posted in the group chat: "@everyone, don’t venture far these days. The Wucheng police have started cleaning up criminals from the new city area. The news reported that over 300 people were shot dead in Wucheng in a single day."

Zhu Fan from Building 7 asked, "Can you explain what’s going on? My cousin and I went to the supermarket to get food, but when he scanned his ID, alarms went off, and a bunch of people took him away. It’s been three days, and I still can’t reach him!"

Wang Qiqi replied, "Maybe he was flagged by the data system."

Zhu Fan asked, "What happens if you’re flagged? Do they lock you up?"

Wu Youai interjected, "Lock up? Do you think there’s enough food to feed prisoners these days?"

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Author’s Note:

Thank you to "Sister Jasmine" for the reward.