Chapter 18 - 17 Consolidation
Shadow Base held its first meeting in the medical room to discuss the union with Farm Base. Currently, Farm Base had a grasp of the zombie situation at the summit church and intended to join forces with Shadow Base to take it over. This union would become a merger after the successful capture of the summit base.
After the merger, the base would have a total of eight members. Stone planned to implement a leadership structure, with Stone as the Great Commander and Maya as the Deputy Commander. Stone was in charge of internal affairs, including base construction, material management, resource coordination, personnel work, etc. Maya was responsible for external affairs, weapon distribution, team formation for outings, and scavenging targets.
Lin Wu trusted Stone, and he had no objections to Stone being the commander, but what he was dissatisfied with were the rules of the leadership structure. Whenever he entered the base, except for a melee weapon, all items would automatically be stored in the inventory. This rule was beneficial for the development of the base. When one went home to rest, others could use his flashlight and steak knife, signifying that there was no concept of personal property among the base members.
Eight people definitely couldn't practice individualism. What if someone got upset, swept the stores, and ran away? Or what if they resorted to violence during a dispute? Or what if they brought any Tom, Dick or Harry into the base?
Stone analyzed his own view of the game, and everyone thought Stone's analysis was very sensible. To live longer and better, it was essential to band together. Shadow Base only had four units; it was impossible to maintain a healthy survival with only three people. They had also witnessed Frenzy's power that day. If something like that showed up during the siege, three people probably couldn't handle it.
What about a collective system? Stone worried that some might form cliques. Where there were people, there were societies. Stone spoke frankly, the Farm Base had five people, and Shadow Base only had three people. After stabilizing the summit church, if they joined forces to expel the members of Shadow Base, the members of Shadow Base wouldn't be able to resist.
Maya didn't agree with the example Stone had cited. She asked what to do if there were two lazy people in the base? Expel them? But their two friends weren't willing to cast expulsion votes—one might be because of their friendship, another might be because the lazy ones' votes were needed to secure their own status and interests within the base.
Stone said patiently, "Lin Wu, this world needs you, but you can't expect the world to revolve around you. Occasionally, you also need to sacrifice and cooperate with the world."
Lin Wu agreed, "I have no objections. Just tell me what we need to do for the summit church."