Since she hadn't taken off all her clothes, Perfikot quickly put them back on. After slipping into her boots, she headed to the street to see what was happening.

The knights responsible for secretly protecting her gathered around her as well. The loyal old butler even carried his sword, his face grim as if ready for battle at any moment.

The knights couldn't help but be tense. Perfikot's disguised identity to observe the people's conditions was a secret. Even though they were sure the information hadn't been leaked, no one could guarantee that someone wouldn't take this opportunity to assassinate her.

As for the reasons for assassination? There were simply too many, so many that Perfikot herself was too lazy to count how many people wanted to kill her.

Now, having left the well-protected Lord's manor and limited in restrictions of the underground city, she had no Steam Knights with her, only a few knights in plain clothes for protection.

This scenario was simply the perfect opportunity for those who wanted to assassinate Perfikot.

Moreover, even if there was no assassination, the fire itself was a significant danger to Perfikot.

If the fire were to spread to her location or an accident blocked the escape routes, Perfikot could very well perish in the flames.

Although, given her status as an Alchemist, the chances were not high, it couldn't be ignored.

However, Perfikot herself wasn't too worried about this. She calmly asked her old butler, "Fu, grandpa, where is the fire? Have you notified the fire department?"

"The fire is in a residential house, about a block away from where we are. For safety's sake, I suggest you return to the Lord's manor quickly, miss! It's no longer safe here." The old butler answered Perfikot's question, his face still unable to hide his concern, attempting to persuade Perfikot to return to the manor and safety.

Perfikot didn't insist either, she merely told the old butler, "Inform the fire department and the management of the underground city to put all efforts into extinguishing the fire! We cannot let the fire spread in the underground city!"

After speaking, she turned and walked toward the direction of the fire.

Seeing this, both the old butler and the knights tried to persuade and stop her, but Perfikot stated that she wanted to see how the Northern Territory officials handled firefighting efficiency.

Unable to stop her, the old butler could only arrange protection while sending someone to notify the underground city's police and City Defense Army, while also deploying the standby Steam Knights nearby for protection.

Even though the streets of the underground city were narrower than those on the surface, they weren't narrow to the extent where Steam Knights couldn't enter.

The main reason Steam Knights weren't arranged for protection initially was to conceal Perfikot's identity. After all, she was disguising herself to observe the people's conditions, and having Steam Knights constantly by her side would undoubtedly expose her identity.

The Steam Knights arrived quickly, and Perfikot didn't actually have to be on the frontline to see firsthand how her officials handled firefighting. So when she stopped at a street corner, about half a block away from the burning residence, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

As Perfikot looked at the burning building and the chaotic figures on the street, her expression was stern.

She knew that the people's fire awareness in this era wasn't strong, but she didn't anticipate a fire to break out soon after the underground city's activation.

Fortunately, in her design of the underground city, she had considered fire scenarios, installing fire hydrants on every street and establishing dedicated fire departments and brigades to ensure someone could respond to fires promptly.

It's important to note that in the original world, professional fire brigades, as we understand them today, appeared very late, not until the 19th century.

Fire brigades in the 18th-19th century in the original world were mostly privately formed, set up with some initiative or citizen donations, and in firefighting, would even compete like companies for performance, sometimes resulting in one fire brigade fighting rather than helping another.

In this world, even Langton didn't have an official fire brigade, and in case of a fire, you could only rely on local districts purchasing fire engines or forming their firefighting teams.

Usually, when a fire occurred in this era, people had to rely on the voluntary help of surrounding residents or kind-hearted people to put it out.

The police occasionally acted as firefighters, but one couldn't expect too much of them.

Perfikot, aware of this situation, had taken fire and firefighting very seriously in the design of Chernobyl and other underground cities and shelters.

Numerous fire hydrants, along with dedicated fire departments and brigades, were established to deal with potential underground city fires.

And Chernobyl's fire brigade did not disappoint her expectations. As she reached the street corner, two red fire trucks had already been brought over, connecting to the hydrants to pump and extinguish the fire.

The fire trucks of this era might differ from what most people imagine—they weren't the monstrous vehicles with tanks from the original world but were flatbed trucks bearing a manual water pump and a small water tank.

This type of fire truck's primary structure was this manual water pump, using manual pressure to spray water storage from the tank onto the fire to extinguish it.

The fire hydrants of this era also couldn't compare to those from the original world. Though they weren't dry, the water pressure was really low, requiring the manual water pump to bring water under pressure before use.

So when the fire truck arrived at the scene, the first task was to have two firefighters stand on it, pump the manual levers to pressure the pump, and extract water from the hydrant.

This series of operations was very cumbersome and troublesome, but in this era, having a fire truck quickly arrive at a fire scene was already quite rare.

However, it couldn't be denied that even so, it still wasted a lot of time, making it often difficult to quickly control the fire, leading to why fires in this era often became severe.

Under Perfikot's watch, when the flames started spreading to the neighboring houses, the fire truck finally sprayed out a stream of white water, beginning to quell the large fire.

At this time, the underground city's management officials arrived at the scene, maintaining order and evacuating the residents while coordinating more manpower to assist in firefighting.

"It seems their efficiency is decent; let's go back." Seeing that underground city management officers had arrived and the fire was starting to be controlled, Perfikot found their efficiency satisfactory and turned to leave.

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