Extreme Cold Era: Shelter Don't Keep Waste-Chapter 603 - 567: The Rioting People

"The flame ignited in the hearts of the populace is truly something to be feared!" Standing on the deck of the Flying Airship, Perfikot gazes down at the lower district, his expression very somber.

It is nighttime now, but the entire lower district of Langton is brightly lit, reflecting over the city as if it were daylight.

These are burning stakes and torches forming several fire dragons.

The executions continue from morning till night, for a whole day, with numerous cultists thrown into the fire, turning into a handful of white ash.

But the stakes never extinguish as new cultists are constantly thrown into the fire.

The people spontaneously form several groups, actively searching all over the districts, dragging out those identified as cultists from their homes and throwing them onto the stakes.

For this, they've even set several houses on fire, making the flames even more dazzling.

If Perfikot hadn't noticed the situation from above and ordered the standby Steam Knights to deal with it in time, half of Langton could have been set ablaze by these people tonight.

Yet, even the Steam Knights, facing tonight's riotous populace, only strive to curb the spread of the flames.

As for stopping the populace? Faced with the 'fire dragons' illuminating half the lower district, even Steam Knights must retreat to avoid being beaten to death like knights pulled off their horses in the cold weapon era.

In fact, if conflict truly occurred, the weaponless mob would have no chance to challenge the Steam Knights, given their willingness to unleash their full powers.

The idea that ants can bite an elephant to death exists only in fables and fairy tales; if an elephant could be killed by ants in reality, it would be a great joke.

Not to mention, the Steam Knights are to the mob what tanks are to the Polish winged hussars, not a force they can deal with.

The defense of the Steam Knights isn't something that sticks or stones can pry open.

Yet, the Steam Knights are still driven and operated by humans, who fear and tremble when facing the overwhelming crowd, managing to harness thirty percent of their combat power is quite commendable.

Furthermore, people get tired, machines break down.

So even Perfikot didn't halt this overwhelming public outpouring, although she knew that among them, there were surely innocent or wrongly harmed individuals, but she had no reason to stop it.

Since the announcement of the end of the world, these people have endured too much pressure, needing an outlet to release the pressure and emotions they've long suffered.

Otherwise, it's like a spring held down, eventually it will break.

Of course, even she only allows the populace to indulge tonight, by tomorrow morning, the Guard Army she specifically summoned will clear the area in coordination with the City Guard, and if by then anyone fails to recognize the situation, she'll have to show why she's called the Bloody Count.

"The mighty tide of public opinion, it's a wave capable of submerging everything, if someone could master it, it would be tantamount to mastering the entire era." Sanderion is somewhat shocked, even with her hundred years more of life experience than Perfikot, she has never seen such a terrifying spectacle.

In response to her evaluation, Perfikot merely shakes her head slightly saying, "No one can master public opinion, those who attempt to manipulate public opinion ultimately will be swallowed by it, at best, one can guide it."

Though Perfikot's life experience might not be as rich as Sanderion's, her insight is broader than anyone else from this era.

To the people of this era, the riotous populace is utterly unimaginable, but to Perfikot, it's nothing noteworthy, compared to true tides in history, it's just a small disturbance.

Perhaps among all rulers of this era, Perfikot understands best the sheer energy contained in seemingly unremarkable common folk.

The rulers of the old world nations of this era might never truly appreciate the power of the populace, akin to Europe's nobility in the original world.

After all, their ruling methods during the feudal era left the populace incapable of launching any significant peasant uprisings or riots, not viewing the masses, who appeared like ants to them, as possessing any power.

But Perfikot clearly understands the magnitude of energy contained in the words 'people's power'.

Yet, harnessing this power is nearly impossible; she is not someone who can utter eloquence at will or spit out magnificent articles, nor has the skill to move countless people to obey her with a mere speech.

Moreover, she knows very well how unreliable it is to try to induce or harness the people's power.

This force is like a flood in a river; while it flows within the riverbanks, one must also beware of the banks being breached.

Thus, she never intended to utilize this force, even though she learned about it in her student days.

It's not that she didn't want to, but she dared not let this force truly erupt, knowing she wouldn't be able to control it, a slight misstep could ignite the entire era.

"Let's not talk about this; the matter in the lower district is about settled, clearing out these cultists will bring much tranquility to the area. Once the old moat is utilized, it will serve to separate the inner and outer districts. At least until the apocalypse arrives, we needn't worry about problems in the outer district." Perfikot changes the subject, mentioning her next plan.

Sanderion nods upon hearing this, but she queries Perfikot, "Have you considered doing the same in the outer district..." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"The move would be too large, it's impossible to clean up within a month. Rather than labor for this, it's better to secure the entire inner district first." Perfikot responds to Sanderion while convincing herself.

She has assessed the situation in the outer district, concluding that it has thoroughly become a domain of the Evil God Sect, with the populace subdued under their tyranny and many influenced by the Ancient Gods' faith.

Cleaning up the outer district cannot be solved by the church or Langton's city government anymore.

The only method Perfikot could conceive within a month to clean up the outer district is to drop the Thermobaric Bombs from this Flying Airship, effectively incinerating the entire area.

A blaze turns it into barren land, that truly leaves it clean.