For Perfikot, the merchants' compliance was something expected, after all, the instructor once said that all reactionaries are paper tigers.
In fact, after she sent Captain William to settle the matter, she did not pay any extra attention, as it was really hard for her to be genuinely concerned about it.
Because the first shelter in Fjord Town had completed all its construction and could now be put into use.
Of course, as a shelter for an apocalyptic disaster, it still had some shortcomings, such as the complete lack of heating, food production, and industrial production facilities, not even having blueprints.
But its main structure had indeed been completed, and it could basically be considered a finished shelter.
Walking along the spiral streets she personally designed, Perfikot was using the Eye of Omniscience to inspect the quality of the shelter's engineering.
Although she had enough confidence in her design, she did not dare be entirely confident in the construction standards of the workers of this era.
"How did you pass the construction acceptance? Didn't you see such a large gap?" Perfikot knocked a seam in the wall with her cane, making a hollow sound, which made her even more dissatisfied: "The wall behind wasn't filled with mortar as required, and the prefabricated components weren't properly installed. Is this how you deceive me?"
Perfikot's dissatisfaction made those following her as silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to take even a breath.
Previously, when Perfikot found a problem, an engineer from a construction company tried to argue, claiming they had completed the construction and these minor omissions were not issues.
Then, he was stuffed into the wall, with only his face exposed, looking like a face decoration hung on the wall.
The only issue was that this wasn't a decorative sculpture but a living person.
At that time, Perfikot prescribed the punishment as follows: "Seal this person here for three days, after which break open the wall and let him out, then let him himself repair all damages and omissions.
If he can't do it or if I'm not satisfied, I'll turn you into material to fill the gaps, and you'll be living in that wall for eternity."
With such a precedent, naturally, no one dared to play any tricks in front of Perfikot, let alone defend against her criticism.
After all, submissively bowing and admitting mistakes might just get a few scoldings. They definitely didn't want to become a wall decoration or be eternally sealed inside as part of a brick.
Such a fate would be a great terror for anyone; any sane person would wish to avoid becoming a living statue on the wall, suffering eternal torment.
Perfikot looked at these people as frightened as quails and shook her head helplessly.
She wasn't trying to deliberately make things difficult for them or intentionally anger them, but seeing such evident cutting of corners and substandard construction on site caused her anger to naturally rise from the bottom of her heart.
Punishment was merely a means, not an end. The reason for creating such a terrifying scene was merely to establish authority and instill fear in the hearts of these people so that they wouldn't dare to cut corners and be negligent.
The shelters to be built in the Northern Territory were more than just this one, and Perfikot couldn't possibly inspect each one carefully and thoroughly. Any oversight, error, or even major hidden danger could pose a tremendous threat to those living in the shelters during the coming apocalyptic winter.
Perfikot had to eliminate any careless mentality in these people now, so that in future construction they wouldn't dare have any thoughts of cutting corners or using inferior materials.
But the merchants' resistance to her authority made Perfikot realize she lacked enough prestige and intimidation and couldn't rely solely on an empty document to command everyone's obedience.
So she had to establish enough authority in the hearts of these people so that people trust her, fear her, and respect her without daring to defy her intentions.
Originally, when Perfikot first arrived on the New Continent, she established her terrifying power with the bloody massacre of New Shaker City, deeply embedding fear and awe of her in people's hearts, once achieving great success.
But over time, people are always forgetful, and her appearance doesn't easily inspire awe.
Thus, Perfikot had to use other methods to make people develop sufficient respect for her.
Originally, she didn't care about this matter because all she wanted was the stability of the Northern Territory and the completion of the shelter construction work on schedule. As for people's opinions of her, she didn't care.
However, the merchants' defiance of her command made Perfikot realize that if people's hearts are not under her control, they might turn into a blade that harms her.
This is like in the past, when emperors ruled their countries, they always divided their ministers into different factions and let them fight to maintain the balance of power.
To mobilize more people in the Northern Territory to work for her, Perfikot needed to learn to balance various forces, ensuring no single force becomes dominant, otherwise, incidents like the merchants' defiance could occur.
If now in the Northern Territory there was a force that could counterbalance those merchants, Perfikot would not encounter such a situation. She would only need to apply pressure on this group of merchants through the other side, and they would naturally compromise and retreat, without needing her to personally intervene.
A leader intervening personally, once or twice, is acceptable and even helps establish their authority, but these actions should not be done repeatedly.
Because a leader's authority is limited, using it excessively will cause it to lose real deterrent effect.
After all, the authority of a leader who has to personally handle everything is subject to debate.
A truly competent leader will cultivate their own power and subordinates, having them handle matters when needed, rather than doing everything personally.
Just like with the merchant issue, Perfikot had Captain William handle it. Likewise, checking the completion of the shelter should be done by Perfikot's subordinates; she didn't actually need to be so hands-on.
But the unique significance of the first completed shelter in the Northern Territory made it inevitable that Perfikot would come; she had to use this event to establish a concept that she valued this greatly, while also reinforcing her power, hence impressing upon people the importance she placed on shelter construction.
Otherwise, these people would really leave many hidden dangers.
Perfikot did not want to still be cleaning up various hidden dangers in the shelters after the apocalypse arrived.