142. A Failure of Leadership!

"Too much arguing? Do you people actually quarrel during your meetings?" Xue Feng asked, somewhat perplexed.

It was clear that Hu Bo had claimed their leader was highly capable and skilled at managing a base of five hundred people. Surely, such a leader should possess strong leadership qualities. How could she possibly allow shouting matches during a meeting? To Xue Feng, it sounded completely inconceivable.

"Our situation here is a bit complicated; you'll understand once you see it for yourself," Hu Bo said, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Alright." Xue Feng nodded, deciding not to press for further details. Whatever the situation was, he would see it with his own eyes soon enough.

Following Hu Bo into the plaza, Xue Feng saw a crowd of people. There were at least thirty or forty of them, men and women alike, all sitting together on chairs they had brought along.

Surrounded by them was a long-haired girl who looked to be in her early twenties. Dressed in a tracksuit, she appeared bright and cheerful, radiating a youthful aura. She was listening intently to the others speaking.

Hu Bo introduced her as the leader, Bai Lu’er.

[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the host for successfully verifying the intelligence. Reward: Ability level increase, Divine Firmament +1.]
[Current Host Attribute Panel:]
Strength: 43
Agility: 52
Spirit: 31
Durability: 52
Luck: 38 (+100)
Abilities: Divine Firmament (Tier 2, Level 4), Stone Skin (Tier 2, Level 1), Time Zero (Tier 2, Level 2)

Xue Feng was quite satisfied with the system’s reward. It seemed he had come to the right place; this was indeed the survivor base he had been looking for.

Just then, an elderly man with a grave expression was speaking to the crowd.

"We are all old and have health issues like high blood pressure, high blood sugar, or high cholesterol. Yet lately, the food we've been given is just high-sugar biscuits. How can our bodies handle this? We need to eat healthily!" The old man kept thumping his cane on the ground, venting his dissatisfaction.

Xue Feng was stunned upon hearing this. What? Not satisfied with high-sugar biscuits? This was the apocalypse! Food and calories were the most scarce resources in the end times, and sugar was an incredibly important source of energy.

Even in ancient times, when supplies were scarce, sugar was a highly coveted luxury. It wasn't just commoners; even royalty and aristocrats loved it. Take Yuan Shu from the Three Kingdoms period, for instance—his dying wish was to drink a bowl of honey water. Then there was Cao Pi, who suffered from severe diabetes and died prematurely because he consumed too much "rock honey," which is essentially rock sugar.

And yet, this old man was complaining that the rations were high-sugar biscuits. Honestly, in the apocalypse, it was a blessing just to have something to eat. To be so picky and complain about biscuits being "unhealthy"—especially coming from an old man—was absurd.

"Yes, Mr. Wang, I have noted your concerns. I will be more mindful of the food distribution in the future," Bai Lu’er replied with a nod, showing no signs of impatience. Instead, she listened to the old man with genuine seriousness.

This made Xue Feng wonder if the old man was some relative of hers, which would explain the favoritism.

"He is the representative for the elderly in the base. They are always making demands and never contribute anything. The leader even went out of her way to find medicine for them at a hospital before," Hu Bo whispered to Xue Feng.

"Your leader..." Xue Feng didn't know how to describe her. A pushover? She was being far too indulgent with this old man.

In Xue Feng's own base, even the elderly had to work. Even if they lacked physical strength, they couldn't just sit idle; there was always something within their capacity to do. In his base, there wasn't a single person who didn't contribute. If someone truly couldn't move, then there was nothing to be done—they couldn't just be thrown to the zombies, but their standard of living would be reduced to providing only the most basic daily energy requirements. They certainly wouldn't be pampered like ancestors. Otherwise, what would become of the others?

Even outside of the apocalypse, Xue Feng had heard of certain cultures that had traditions of taking the elderly into the mountains to fend for themselves.

"She is a bit too kind-hearted," Hu Bo said with a bitter smile, clearly harboring his own reservations about it.

Meanwhile, the argument in the meeting continued.

"It’s fine to ask us women to grow vegetables—after all, we’re considered inferior—but making us do heavy labor like digging and tilling the soil? We can't do that! And moving farm tools and fertilizer? That’s not work for women," a middle-aged woman stood up and declared.

Hearing this, Xue Feng shook his head. These were just excuses. In his base, women handled those tasks all the time. There was nothing they couldn't do! If something was too heavy to lift, two people could lift it together. In ancient times, when men went off to war, didn't women stay behind to farm the land? This middle-aged woman was not only unattractive, but she was also full of excuses. A beauty like Song Yan had to work hard in the fields at his base, and she was happy to do it because life was stable.

"So, what you’re saying is that we should do it for you? Are you going to go out and scavenge for supplies or kill zombies instead?" a burly man stood up and roared, having clearly understood the implication of the woman's words. She was simply unhappy with the current division of labor and didn't want to do heavy physical work.

"You have the nerve to say that! The supplies we find are getting fewer and fewer. Who knows if you're just slacking off out there? Right now, it's us women growing vegetables to keep you fed, you freeloaders!" the woman shot back.

The burly man’s face turned red, then white, with anger. Looking at him, it seemed he was one step away from pouncing on the woman. Xue Feng had no doubt that the man could knock her out with a single punch.

"The supplies are running low because everything nearby has been picked clean! The remaining areas are crawling with dangerous zombies! You women have been eating the food we risked our lives to find, and now that the crops have just barely started to produce, you claim you’re the ones feeding us?" The man pointed at her, his hand trembling as he struggled to suppress his rage.

"If you don't want us to feed you, then have some backbone and stop eating what we grow!" The woman remained unrelenting, continuing to taunt him.

"I'll kill you!" The burly man bellowed and lunged toward her.

There was no fear in the woman's eyes, only mockery, as she knew the man couldn't actually hurt her. Sure enough, in the next second, the man stopped dead in his tracks, as if held back by some invisible force. He collapsed to the ground.

"Everyone, calm down. We survivors need to protect our home together; this is not the time for fighting," Bai Lu’er said, frowning.

Only after she spoke could the man scramble to his feet. However, his eyes were still burning with rage; it was clear he was far from satisfied with Bai Lu’er’s way of handling the conflict.

Watching this, Xue Feng shook his head inwardly. He had seen enough: Bai Lu’er possessed absolutely no leadership ability.