Inside the hotel restaurant, although the staff had already lit up the fireplace, with flames burning fiercely, Perfikot still felt somewhat cold sitting next to it.

She was wearing a rather thick woolen coat at the moment, with a special goose down lining she had commissioned, ensuring maximum warmth. It was far more comfortable and warm than the fur coats of this era.

However, even so, she felt her hands and feet turning cold after just one meal.

As for the meal in front of her, it was already cold long before, despite the restaurant staff trying their best to keep it warm when serving.

Perfikot wore lambskin wool gloves on her hands. Although not as warm as cotton gloves, they were the best combination of usability and warmth.

Her boots, too, were lambskin, with a soft and comfortable fleece lining providing excellent warmth. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

One could say her outfit was the warmest clothing of this era, and she was sitting by the fireplace. It’s not winter anymore, so she shouldn’t be feeling cold.

But a sudden blizzard struck the city. With snow accumulating to a foot deep outside, even indoors with heating and warm clothing, it was still freezing.

This is a sign of the apocalypse.

While sudden snowstorms in the Northern Territory and New Continent aren’t unheard of, the city where Perfikot was located was in the central region of the New Continent, closer to the warm and humid south, theoretically unlikely to experience such extreme weather.

Not to mention cold to the point where she felt freezing even near the fire.

Despite Perfikot’s current identity being a low-profile noble visiting relatives, she did not skimp on her treatment.

After all, for Empire’s nobility, the general impression of New Continent and Northern Territory is that they are rich tycoons.

So Perfikot, while staying low-key, didn’t neglect her basic quality of life.

Yet despite this, she felt cold, making one wonder how ordinary people were suffering.

Becasue of the sudden blizzard, Perfikot stopped Major General Richard’s ongoing attack plan, signaling negotiations instead.

This wasn’t a premeditated plot by the Revolutionary Army. Perfikot didn’t intend to use negotiations as bait to kill the Revolutionary Army leaders; she merely wanted to end the war quickly and secure a stable New Continent colony.

Of course, if the Revolutionary Army insisted on independence, Perfikot could rename the New Continent.

Originally, she planned to end the war swiftly by crushing the Revolutionary Army defenses with a swift attack, forcing them to the negotiation table. However, faced with this unexpected event, she wasn’t opposed to changing strategies, opting for a relatively peaceful end to the war.

Though Perfikot could continue the war as planned, advancing in such adverse weather would lead to substantial non-combat attrition within the troops, something Perfikot didn’t desire.

Even with sudden snowstorms, even if Perfikot deployed Flying Airships as bombers against Revolutionary Army positions and fortresses, ground troops would still be needed to occupy these places.

Just as the original world had advanced enough to build permanent research stations in the Antarctic, no army dared to claim it could continue marching, let alone attacking, in a raging blizzard.

The Germans had already proven the power of General Winter in World War II, and Perfikot didn’t wish to emulate their experience.

Though she genuinely wanted to help Kallen establish a regime led by the working or proletarian class, it didn’t mean she would subject her troops to unnecessary casualties.

She could accept casualties during attacks as a necessary cost, but risking enormous losses by attacking in a blizzard merely for a swift resolution was beyond Perfikot’s actions.

While Perfikot could unhesitatingly send millions to death to achieve her goals, it didn’t mean her actions lacked scruples.

She would use any means necessary to achieve her objectives, but when choices are available, she wouldn’t mind showing some softness.

If achieving victory in war necessitated sacrifice, she could declare, "I don’t care about the casualty numbers; I just want victory."

But when unnecessary, Perfikot was willing to show her compassion.

Moreover, there’s an important reason: Perfikot noticed that in the New Continent colony, although the Empire had announced the apocalypse, the colony hadn’t generally begun constructing shelters.

Perfikot wasn’t compassionate enough to build shelters for the New Continent’s inhabitants. If she had that mindset, she wouldn’t have initially chosen to begin in the Northern Territory.

She merely thought, considering the circumstances, the Northern Territory’s construction had nearly completed most of its objectives. Like Empire’s mainland, if New Continent’s colony hurriedly built shelters, they could withstand the impending apocalypse rather than relying on existing buildings to combat the freezing conditions that could kill everything.

After all, preserving New Continent’s colony is also beneficial for the Northern Territory.

Thus, Perfikot considered temporarily shelving unnecessary disputes, engaging in negotiations with the Revolutionary Army, then directing resources and manpower where they should go, rather than expending them on the battlefield.

As she did in the Seventeen Days War, when she killed millions to prevent the war from destroying three capitals, Perfikot was still willing to negotiate and make necessary concessions for a swift end to the war.

But of course, if some Revolutionary Army members showed disrespect, Perfikot wasn’t opposed to taking decisive measures.

According to previous plans with Major General Richard, three Flying Airships had launched from the Northern Territory. Despite delays due to the weather, they would still arrive here later.

And as per the original plans, although these Flying Airships didn’t carry Thermobaric Bombs, they were equipped with bunker-busting bombs meant to destroy sturdy fortresses and positions.