The arrival of five Flying Airships greatly enhanced the Northern Territory’s ability in transportation, allowing Perfikot to deploy personnel more effortlessly and making the communication within the Northern Territory more cohesive.
Of course, currently, the only places in the Northern Territory that can be called towns are Fjord Town and Beloburg, these two landing points.
The rest, be it Eagle’s Beak Cliff or the planned future capital of the Northern Territory, are not yet considered towns.
Therefore, for the present Northern Territory, the Flying Airship can only transport some vital supplies or documents, unable to fully utilize its aerial advantages.
However, with the construction of the first batch of settlements, the demand for information transmission and material transport is gradually increasing, making the existence of Flying Airships still necessary.
At least one airship performing regular patrols of all settlements allows Perfikot to better grasp the current situation of the Northern Territory and also better control the construction progress of each settlement.
Currently, Fjord Town is the town with the highest level of construction in the Northern Territory, not only because it is the first true town in this region.
After the shield machine was tested, it has been employed in the construction project of Fjord Town’s underground city, constantly excavating the subterranean space of Fjord Town.
The construction progress of the project is not fast; so far, it’s only about testing whether the shield machine is effective and whether its cutter can crush the underground rock.
Part of this is due to the shield machine being put into practical use for the first time, and no one knows for certain how effective this machine is. Thus, it remains in a cautious state of exploration during use.
Perfikot, however, didn’t find anything troubling about this, as the primary purpose of the first usage is to accumulate experience and summarize technical points rather than speed.
Nevertheless, the excavation speed of the shield machine is satisfactory, but the lack of manpower in the project restricts its full performance.
Cyan Bird didn’t have any good solutions regarding this, except urging the native side to transport more labor quickly. Perfikot couldn’t offer much help in this matter.
Fortunately, the Punishment Camp that Perfikot prepared has finally arrived in the Northern Territory, with some of its members involved in the construction of the industrial center, while the rest were dispatched to build the future capital of the Northern Territory.
Of course, some laborers from the Punishment Camp were sent to Fjord Town for the construction work on the underground shelter.
Although Perfikot didn’t have a good impression of this group, it must be admitted that they are indeed quite good as labor.
Though supervision with whips and firearms is required, and some might attempt to escape occasionally, overall, most tend to work diligently, hoping to complete their sentences and then strive for the elusive pardon and release.
Perfikot wouldn’t work these people to death or treat them as disposable products, but don’t expect much leniency from her either.
After all, those sent here in the Punishment Camp are mostly convicts and gang members.
The main composition of them were those captured during Perfikot’s cleanup of the Langton gang; after being detained for about half a year, they no longer carry their initial defiance or so-called underworld habits, and most are working earnestly.
Most of them find that, although the labor in the Northern Territory is tough, it’s not to the extent of being impossible to endure.
Thus, they are willing to work honestly to endure their sentences.
After all, most of them have sentences of only three years, which they think will pass soon if they hang in there.
But what they never imagine is that their sentence is only three years not because their crimes weren’t severe enough, but because the Empire only needs them sentenced for three years. Get full chapters from novel⁂fire.net
One benefit of this approach is making these convicts relatively more stable, for a three-year sentence seems easier to endure.
However, two years later is the doomsday winter, and by then they won’t be of use, releasing them would seem unnecessary to Perfikot.
Truthfully, when those two years arrive, most of these prisoners likely won’t have the chance to return to the homeland, nor would they wish to return only to perish.
Of course, their return depends on whether by then ships can still navigate the almost frozen sea to reach the Empire’s mainland from the Northern Territory.
Though Flying Airships can achieve this, Perfikot clearly wouldn’t use valuable Flying Airships to transport a group of convicts.
By that time, the airships would be busy transporting the Empire’s elite, certainly too occupied to carry a group of released prisoners.
Not executing them outright is already considered merciful by Perfikot, expecting her to send these people back using the precious cargo capacity of Flying Airships is beyond dreaming.
Thus, for Perfikot at present, this batch of convicts is a good supplement to labor force.
And their seemingly decent performance is making Perfikot consider whether to request more Punishment Camps from the Empire.
Yet, she ultimately dismissed the idea, not actively requesting more Punishment Camps to serve as labor for the Northern Territory.
Although Perfikot already decided before the plan for Northern Territory began to abandon unnecessary limits and kindness, ensuring the plan’s success with absolute rationality, it doesn’t mean Perfikot would pursue inhumanity.
She knows clearly that Victory now has a large number of Punishment Camp laborers, and she could request a satisfying quantity anytime, but Perfikot instinctively didn’t want to do so.
Because most of the Punishment Camp laborers from the Empire’s mainland are essentially people or captives from the territories of the defeated three nations.
These people didn’t commit vicious crimes but fell into punitive labor for belonging to defeated nations.
Although Perfikot feels five senses about such matters, as she destroyed the capitals of those three countries, she still harbors a bit of a complex feeling towards them.
Though minimal, it means Perfikot doesn’t have to hear that the Empire would directly capture innocent civilians to serve as labor in order to cram Punishment Camp numbers.
Despite proposing to "squeeze them dry," Perfikot harbors a strong aversion to capturing innocent civilians to serve as labor unequivocally.
She hardens her heart where necessary but occasionally shows a hint of unnecessary compassion from her perspective.