Now that they had found an entrance into the underground depths, the Hunters naturally wanted to descend and investigate.
Ms. Meow-It-All directed the Airship to descend.
For safety, she instructed Millsy to move the Airship away from the fissure before lowering it any farther, stopping at a safe rappelling height about twenty or thirty meters above the ground.
The Hunters had finished preparing to depart, and Ms. Meow-It-All would be joining them.
Although she had no combat ability, Ms. Meow-It-All's extensive field-survey experience would prove invaluable.
The Pioneer carried long, sturdy ropes that far exceeded the length required for rappelling.
Ms. Meow-It-All first had everyone descend the rope to the ground. She then instructed the Hunters to drag the large coil of rope to the edge of the fissure and throw it in.
She turned back and called up to Millsy, who was remaining aboard the Airship, "If you see an SOS Flare from inside the fissure, raise the Airship immediately, got it, meow?"
"Understood!"
Only then did the Hunters realize why Ms. Meow-It-All had brought such a long coil of rope.
The depths below the fissure could be full of danger, so the rope was their escape route. In an emergency, the Airship could serve as a makeshift hoist and haul them out of the fissure.
At the edge of the fissure, Ms. Meow-It-All distributed more equipment to the group. "These are portable alchemical lamps that clip onto your belt, meow. They're brighter than ordinary kerosene lanterns, and you don't have to worry about them going out, meow."
The Hunters accepted them with curious expressions, and Theo, already skilled in alchemy, seemed particularly eager to take one apart for a closer look.
Ms. Meow-It-All then handed out other items, including gas masks and Torch Pods.
With these tools and supplies, exploring the dark underground cave would be safer and easier.
After briefly explaining how to use the equipment, Ms. Meow-It-All was the first to slide down the rope into the fissure.
The elderly Felyne's every meow rang with a scholar's distinctive excitement. "Let's go, meow! Hurry and follow me, meow!"
Ms. Meow-It-All moved so swiftly that the Hunters had to scramble after her.
The rock layer around the fissure was not very thick. After descending only three or four meters, the space abruptly opened up, and the group entered a vast underground cave.
Although the alchemical lamps shone more brightly than ordinary kerosene lanterns, their light could not reveal the cave's full extent.
The Hunters continued descending a little farther and soon reached the cave floor.
Altaïr signaled for his companions to remain alert, then looked up at the stone fissure in the cave ceiling.
The ceiling was less than thirty meters high. The cave was relatively narrow from east to west, perhaps only a few dozen meters wide, but stretched endlessly from north to south.
It resembled a long tunnel.
Morgan raised his Bowgun, quickly confirmed that there were no Monsters nearby, and said in a low voice, "Safe."
Only then did the Hunters relax a little.
Ms. Meow-It-All had reached the cave floor only a moment ahead of the others, but she was already examining the surroundings with excitement and quickly reaching several conclusions.
"This isn't an ordinary cave, meow. It was once a rather large underground river. The river on the surface is only the portion that seeped out of it, but for some reason, the main underground flow dried up, meow.
"If that's the case, the fissure above was probably caused by the ground sinking and collapsing after it lost the support of the groundwater, meow."
Altaïr crouched and ran his fingers over the ground, which was smoother than the floors of most ordinary caves.
He had read more books than most Hunters, but they were largely about biology and ecology. His breadth of knowledge was nowhere near that of a true scholar.
He knew nothing about geology. Without Ms. Meow-It-All accompanying them, they could never have concluded so quickly that this cave had once been an underground river.
"So when the underground river disappeared, it opened a path for the Pariapuria living in the caverns below, allowing them to climb to the surface in groups and invade the Mangrove Forest?" Altaïr asked, piecing the clues together.
"That seems to be the logical conclusion, meow." Ms. Meow-It-All nodded. "But there is one strange thing, meow. Under normal circumstances, an underground river of this size would not simply disappear.
"Even if its flow gradually diminished, the process would take decades or even centuries, meow. If only one or two Pariapuria reached the surface during that time, the Mangrove Forest could slowly adapt and 'digest' them without experiencing abnormal Monster activity on such a large scale, meow."
As she spoke, Ms. Meow-It-All ran on all fours to the cave wall. "If the underground river had receded gradually, there should be clear waterlines along the wall.
"There aren't any, meow. That means the underground river vanished abruptly, within just a few years or perhaps even less.
"It was like a great gate suddenly being thrown open. Multiple Pariapuria reached the surface, entered the Mangrove Forest, and completely disrupted its ecosystem, meow."
Altaïr frowned in thought, but some matters lay beyond his expertise. No amount of thinking could make up for knowledge he did not possess, so he could only ask, "What usually causes a change like this?"
"Violent geological activity, such as a volcanic eruption or an earthquake, meow." Ms. Meow-It-All stroked her whiskers. "The Great Volcano stands at the center of Tidal Island, meow. If it experienced a major eruption recently, it could easily have caused all of this, meow."
"Come to think of it, the water in Esther Lake also disappeared because of violent geological activity, right?" Isis suddenly interjected. "A massive fissure opened in the lakebed, and all the water drained away. Could the two events be connected?"
"Esther Lake? You mean the Estrellian Incident last year that affected the Metapetatto Jungle, meow?" Ms. Meow-It-All had clearly heard about the incident as well.
But she immediately shook her head. "This is probably only a coincidence, meow. Esther Lake lies in the Schrade Region, in the northwest of the Old World, while Tidal Island is in the South Sea. The straight-line distance between them is several thousand kilometers.
"They aren't even on the same geological plate. Whatever happened there couldn't have affected this place, meow."
"I see," Isis said. She scratched her head and dropped the subject.
"Over there!" Sajji suddenly called out. "There's blood over there, meow!"
Sajji pointed to a corner of the cave wall. The Hunters all turned to look. Beneath the yellow glow of the alchemical lamps, the dark red bloodstain stood out clearly.
"It climbed down the wall." Altaïr hurried over to the bloodstain. "So it can climb cave walls too."
"It is a species that lives in underground caverns, after all," Morgan said as he walked over. "Should we keep following it? Between the scent of blood and the slime trail, we should be able to catch up easily."
Altaïr looked at Ms. Meow-It-All.
His understanding of both the underground limestone cave and the Pariapuria was too limited. An impulsive decision could lead the group into danger.
Ms. Meow-It-All considered the question for a moment. "Finding that Pariapuria is no longer the priority, but following its trail should allow us to retrace the route it used to reach the surface. That is very important to us, meow.
"I suggest we continue following it, but at a slower pace. We can survey this underground river channel as we advance and avoid any unknown dangers, meow."
Ms. Meow-It-All always favored a cautious approach, and that was a good thing. Altaïr decided to follow her suggestion.
"Sajji, Clawdia, move a hundred meters ahead and scout. Warn us immediately if you find anything. Isis, protect Ms. Meow-It-All. Everyone else, remain alert.
"There may be more Pariapuria living in this underground cave..."
(Translated by yourtl.app)