Extreme Cold Era: Shelter Don't Keep Waste-Chapter 788 - 17

The emergency cabinet meeting lasted the entire night, only adjourning late into the night.

Empress Annie returned to her chamber to sleep for only a few hours before rising to work again.

This was a habit she developed during wartime. Although her schedule didn't need to be so extreme after returning to Langton, her military experience taught her how to quickly restore energy.

After all, there wasn't much time for rest on the battlefield, especially with the widespread use of firearms and artillery, getting a good night's sleep during battles was almost a luxury.

She washed her face with cold water, the icy temperature stimulating her still groggy brain, bringing Empress Annie back to alertness.

She only ate a simple meal to fill her stomach before heading to Perfikot's residence.

Although the cabinet temporarily came under control after she adopted a military-style tough approach and indeed began functioning according to her arrangements and instructions, to solve the blizzard crisis, she needed to turn to Perfikot.

"Now, you finally look a bit like an empress." Perfikot was having breakfast at the dining table, and upon seeing Empress Annie arrive early in her military uniform, her gaze finally showed a bit of approval.

"Perhaps I was never suited to be an empress." Empress Annie sat down in front of Perfikot and seriously said to her: "I need your help now."

At yesterday's cabinet meeting, Empress Annie realized something through discussions with the cabinet.

To solve the blizzard crisis in the short term and prevent this white disaster from escalating into a larger-scale catastrophe with irreparable losses, she must seek Perfikot's help.

However, Perfikot did not immediately agree but instead discussed with Empress Annie what it means to be a qualified empress: "Different people have different styles. Your mother was a wise politician, lacking neither strength of character nor gentle means.

As a leader, she excelled at balancing various interests, allowing everyone to find their place, maintaining the balance of the entire country."

"What I'm not good at is this. Initially, I thought that when I became empress, I might accumulate enough experience to make myself competent for this position. But now I find I can't learn this at all..." Empress Annie shook her head, sighed, and then regained a firm stance: "Since I can't learn it, and there's no time for me to gain experience, then I can only use what I'm good at."

Saying this, Empress Annie picked up Perfikot's cup from the table, emptied its contents into her mouth, and then said with great momentum, "What I'm good at is war, so I want to treat this as a war! I... wait, what is in this cup of yours? Why does it taste so awful?"

Empress Annie hadn't finished speaking when she almost spat out what she swallowed because of its bitterness.

However, her good upbringing made her hold back, and she finally swallowed the mouthful of bitterness like mud.

"Super concentrated coffee, I use it to stay awake, though I usually use alchemy to change its taste before drinking." Perfikot laughed out loud.

For Perfikot, altering the taste of food is a simple task, so she doesn't mind starting her morning with a cup of super-concentrated coffee to get her brain going.

As she matured, she could sense that her brain was still developing; her thinking and reaction abilities continued to improve.

Even though the improvement wasn't significant, she could feel herself becoming smarter than she was a few years ago.

However, alongside this newfound intelligence came greater energy consumption, which for an alchemist was an issue easily resolved.

Yet, years of near-overload work cultivated a strange habit in Perfikot of having a super-concentrated coffee in the morning to stimulate mental alertness.

Otherwise, she would have to spend a few hours each day getting her brain up to speed, which, to some extent, felt like a waste of time.

She hadn't anticipated Empress Annie grabbing her drink at the dining table, resulting in such an embarrassing situation, deflating the empress's momentum almost immediately.

After rinsing her mouth with two glasses of water, Empress Annie was still left with an unforgettable bitterness.

However, being an Extraordinary Knight, she had undergone rigorous training, and such a scenario was not insurmountable, so she quickly adjusted her mindset and spoke again to Perfikot: "Dear Perfikot, I really need your help! The Northern Territory is also your domain; surely you don't want to see the entire territory suffer tremendous losses in this blizzard?"

"The method has already been provided. Building a weather controller will solve the problem." Perfikot, although pleased to see Empress Annie's transformation, still felt something was lacking.

"But they say building a weather controller will take at least eight days! You and I both know we can't let this blizzard continue for eight more days!" Empress Annie slammed her fist on the table in front of her, causing the tableware to jump.

Perfikot was indifferent, merely waving her hand and saying, "It appears they are more capable than I imagined. I had initially estimated it would take them twelve days. Perhaps by ordering them as an empress, you pushed them to their limits."

"I commanded them to spare no expense; they might exploit the workers and alchemists, but the timeline is still too long!" Empress Annie shook her head. It was not the time to worry about how much loss this might cause. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Because not doing so would result in greater losses.

Therefore, Empress Annie had to seek more effective solutions to prevent the prolongation of the situation.

"Dear Perfikot! I truly need your assistance! I don't want to command you as the empress, but I see no better alternative right now. I hope you can understand." Empress Annie sincerely looked at Perfikot, hoping she would voluntarily undertake this task.

Yet, Perfikot only gazed at Empress Annie, shaking her head and said: "I mentioned before, you're missing something. As a leader, you must learn when to use emotions and when to issue commands.

Just like in battle, as a general, you must decide when to send some to their deaths and demand others do what they don't want to do.

If you persistently focus on kindness, then sadly, you'll always encounter people like me who refuse to work; you can't always beg people to work, can you?

Perhaps this is precisely the point you're lacking! Remember, Your Majesty, to lead others, either you make everyone fear you, respecting your authority, or make them pity you and listen to you, out of sympathy. Which one will you choose?"