When Perfikot stepped into the ninth district under the guard of four shield-bearing Steam Knights, the battle here had already subsided.

The streets were full of people cut down by the knight cavalry, corpses lying across the street and blood flowing freely, causing Perfikot to sigh deeply despite being in a state of calm and reason, feeling the deaths of these people were in vain.

Her crown could grant her rationality and calmness, yet it didn't strip her of emotions, so even in a calm and rational state, Perfikot could still express her feelings.

However, regardless of whether they were positive or negative, she wouldn't let her emotions affect her thinking.

But this was not a time for sorrow; Perfikot arrived at the church in the district, which was previously the site of relief aid and was the first place to be attacked when the riots occurred.

At this point, the place was already a mess; the grain stockpiled at the relief point had been looted, mostly ending up in the stomachs of those who had already become corpses.

This was partly related to the policy set by Perfikot, which stipulated that the relief aid grain would not be much—enough to maintain for about a week— to prevent excessive stockpiling leading to embezzlement or corruption.

So even if these rioting crowds breached the relief point and stole the grain, it would only be enough for them to eat freely for a few days.

Not to mention that a part of the grain at the relief point had already been distributed, and some had been embezzled by the relief point staff, leaving even less.

Perfikot could only shake her head helplessly at this. She knew these people were hungry, but according to her calculations, the relief aid grain could maintain a state of not being fully fed but not starving, even if someone embezzled it, as long as it wasn't too excessive.

As for those who were embezzling excessively, naturally, Eldest Princess Annie and her knights were responsible for dealing with them.

In fact, Perfikot had already received a relevant report earlier, listing the embezzlement situations at various relief points in Langton City, with the most severe ones already being put on the list for execution.

But things were still going through the process, and it wouldn't be so quick.

Thus, in Perfikot's view, although Langton's current situation was terrible, it was not beyond survival.

It was just that perhaps at the time she was influenced by nonconformists, making her emotions somewhat unstable. Now, as she calmed down and thought rationally, she found she had indeed gone a bit overboard, at least not calculating the impact of human nature.

The greed of human nature made those responsible for distributing relief grain increasingly brazen, starting perhaps by deducting one bag of wheat for their own ration and then for their whole family's ration, then for a week's worth for the whole family...

Greedy desire is like a continuously growing venomous snake, evolving due to desire, with an ever-growing appetite.

Initially, perhaps a slight benefit could fill the crevice of desire in their hearts, but as desire expands, even devouring all things in the world could hardly satisfy that endless greed.

Even facing the butcher's knife, just like the saying goes, if there is a hundred percent profit, they dare to trample all laws in the world; when there is three hundred percent profit, they dare to commit any crime, even if risking the gallows.

So, slaying does not stop embezzlement, something demonstrated firsthand by a farmer-born emperor in the original world, indeed useless.

Those prone to greed will always be greedy, even if it means taking the last grain from someone else's mouth.

Snatch the mud from the swallow's mouth, shave the needle from the iron's tip, scrape gold from the Buddha's face for meticulous searching: make them appear where there was none.

Seek peas in a quail's crop, carve fine meat on a heron's leg, gouge oil from a mosquito's belly. Remarkable conviction of the old gentleman!

It is precisely because of this that the grain originally calculated by Perfikot to be sufficient, or even slightly abundant, became insufficient in these people's hands.

Thus, the dissatisfaction among the populace, according to Perfikot's original plan, evolved—when incited by those with ulterior motives—into a chaotic state.

And this was another point Perfikot failed to calculate; she overlooked the rapid change in human nature.

To ordinary people, with something to eat, they indeed could endure significant oppression, after all, as long as one doesn't starve and can continue living, who would willingly risk their life?

But when even that last bite cannot be guaranteed, even the most docile sheep can transform into a man-eating beast.

For they wish to survive, and the willpower that erupts when facing a life-and-death crisis is unstoppable by anyone.

People are not afraid to die, how can you threaten them with death?

As thoughts churned in her mind, Perfikot walked into the church, looking up at the statue of the All Father sitting on the golden throne, unable to resist sighing deeply.

Perhaps once the All Father, before sitting on the golden throne, also faced the same choice?

How to save the people from darkness and despair? The All Father had already given the best answer.

Only the price was that he turned into an everlasting skeleton, forever sitting on the golden throne.

In a state of calm and reason, Perfikot thought about everything, realizing simply feeding the populace was absolutely not a solution.

Idleness breeds laziness, and laziness breeds other emotions—dissatisfaction, resentment, and jealousy—human nature is always unfulfilled, and under the ever-unfillable gorge of desire, it would evolve into a new disaster.

If she wanted to prevent all this, she must ensure the populace does not remain idle.

Perhaps she should revise the current plan? Such a thought flashed through Perfikot's mind.

Revise the plan to build huge shelters on the Empire's homeland to shelter the people, not to save them in the apocalypse but to ensure that they won't collapse and become the root of chaos before the apocalypse arrives and before all plans are smoothly implemented.

Thinking of this, a new plan swiftly took shape in Perfikot's heart, and she felt the construction efforts in Langton's shelter could be increased, and cities on the mainland could act accordingly.

Although this would increase her and others' workload, Perfikot felt this was an acceptable cost to prevent today's undesirable situation from happening again.

Moreover, even in times of being overwhelmed, there were magic puppet computers, powerful computational devices paired with mechanical logic that could replace quite a lot of management personnel.

As for the expenses and consumption brought by expanded construction... Perfikot looked at the Philosopher's Stone in her hand, perhaps the technology on the fifth page of Jade Record could perform its function.

Thinking of this, Perfikot saluted the statue of the All Father, sincerely praying that the Divine could bless her plan to succeed, then turned and left the church.

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