Extreme Cold Era: Shelter Don't Keep Waste-Chapter 822 - 51

The cabinet meeting did not result in an immediate decision.

Although Perfikot had the capability to finalize the matter, she chose not to do so.

Letting these people argue might sometimes lead to better solutions.

Moreover, arguing can help unify opinions. After all, the cabinet is also factionalized, and the interests of different factions differ, affecting their policy-making inclinations.

Their arguments are an attempt to secure benefits for their factions. The outcome may not be the best, but it is certainly the most acceptable to all parties.

This scene truly opened Aili's eyes; the noisy disputes of humans worried her greatly.

"As their leader, shouldn't you be able to unite them?" Aili asked Perfikot during a break in the meeting.

In her impression, human leaders should have high prestige, capable of rallying everyone with a single call, leading humanity to overcome difficulties or even challenge the gods. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

However, faced with Aili's question, Perfikot responded indifferently, "Letting them argue is the way for them to reach consensus."

"Huh? Why? Isn't arguing just creating conflicts?" Aili was puzzled, as her understanding of humans was still limited to the past mythological perception.

Perfikot glanced up at her before explaining, "Humans are very complex beings, with differing thoughts, interests, and demands.

Some people want this, others want that. Those who want this will encroach on the interests of those who want that, while those who want that will harm others' interests...

Humans are like this; reaching consensus requires achieving an interest distribution that everyone can accept.

Their arguments are bargaining for interest distribution. Once they finish arguing, the interests are allocated, and they will start working."

Perfikot's explanation was simple, and even Aili quickly understood the complexity within it.

This discovery left her both amazed and compelled to question Perfikot, "But as a leader, shouldn't you coordinate these things, so everyone works together?"

"That kind of person is called a hero. I am not a hero; I cannot make everyone convinced of me, so I just let them argue!" Perfikot did not aspire to be a leader of everyone, casually dismissing Aili.

If it were just about capability and prestige, Perfikot could indeed unite everyone.

But she found it too tiring; rather than stepping up as a hero or a great person, she preferred to be a scientist.

"But what if they continue arguing and can't reach a consensus?" Aili posed a challenging question.

Human differences are not so easily reconciled, and once a dispute arises, it may indeed lead to the scenario Aili mentioned, with neither side willing to concede, ultimately resulting in division.

But Perfikot was even less concerned about this problem. She nonchalantly looked at Aili, then casually said, "Just silence the one who argues the most fiercely; without the instigator, the rest will quickly reach consensus and stand united."

Perfikot's solution could be seen as straightforwardly brutal, yet admittedly effective.

In her view, if prestige is insufficient, then military intimidation is also a viable means of unifying others.

But Aili clearly couldn't accept such a simplistic and crude method; she pointed at Perfikot, stammered for a while, but eventually found herself at a loss for words, ending up sulking with her face puffed up like a pufferfish.

She certainly knew Perfikot's method was effective; it was just her personal moral compass that instinctively disliked this approach.

But regardless of Aili's preferences, the cabinet's disputes did not cease, as each side continued to express their views for their interests while negating others'.

This quarrel certainly couldn't yield a consensus or result in just one day.

Perfikot anticipated this; she had instructed Beifa to make tea as she listened to their bickering, treating it as leisure and entertainment.

However, Aili found this hard to bear; she hoped that humanity could set aside prejudice and internal divisions, uniting to resist the impending assault of the gods, rather than squabbling and wasting time over petty gains.

This also led her to be deeply disappointed in Perfikot, perceiving her not as a qualified leader but more like a politician focused on personal gains rather than a hero capable of leading humanity against the gods.

Perfikot was naturally unaware of Aili's thoughts, given that she didn't possess mind-reading abilities.

However, even so, Perfikot could roughly guess Aili's thoughts from her expression.

In Aili's view, time was pressing, and humanity had no time to waste; they should concentrate all their efforts on preparing for the gods' invasion and attack.

But in Perfikot's eyes, it was sufficient if the cabinet and others could take care of themselves and not cause her trouble.

In the matter of resisting the gods, ordinary humans were merely cannon fodder and expendables; their greater role lay in maintaining industrial production, supplying logistics, and supplying weapons and ammunition for the war.

As for front-line defense and combat? Perfikot did not believe ordinary people could compare to her Autonomous Knights and Godslaying Armor.

Nevertheless, she had no intention of explaining this to Aili. The intelligence Perfikot needed to know was already known; what remained was just to prepare for the war.

But thinking of the upcoming war, even Perfikot could not help but let a few cold glimmers flash in her eyes.

In the past, she had been reluctant to fully unleash her capabilities due to various concerns, but now, she felt it might be time to implement some of the things she had conceived.

"Regent, what do you think about this matter?" Just as Perfikot was contemplating how to initiate her previously conceived plan, someone interrupted her thoughts with a question.

Annoyed at having her thought process disrupted, Perfikot replied irritably, "You wanted to change my original policy, and now that you've messed it up, you're asking for my opinion again? Does the Empire keep you here to create chaos for it?"

Perfikot's words left the cabinet members' faces appearing embarrassed.

"I give you three days; I want a viable result within three days." With that, Perfikot rose and left the cabinet meeting room, with Aili hastily following behind.