As the safe room shakes after Carl unleashes a feral god through the Gate of the Feral Gods, Mordecai tells everyone to wait before going outside. Carl checks on the surviving children and worries about Juice Box, who seems to be recovering memories that suggest she is an NPC repeating an old dungeon cycle, much like Fire Brandy once did. Carl also reflects on Vadim’s death and asks Mordecai whether feral gods can be killed, but Mordecai does not know.

Carl, now level 47, opens a large batch of achievement boxes. He receives several rewards tied to surviving the ocean depths, being featured in a major event, getting eaten and escaping, and winning seven Syndicate lawsuits. The lawsuit boxes are especially strange: each contains a stock certificate and a photograph of a plaintiff’s mother, which Mordecai interprets as the AI mocking the factions that sued Carl. Carl realizes the items may also identify the factions likely to oppose him later. Katia receives a powerful upgraded pack, while Carl gains a water-breathing ring.

The best loot comes from Carl’s boss and spicy boxes. He gets Drakea’s Enchanted Kerchief of Disorder, which improves trap detection, grants the Tripper spell, and lets him remotely detonate explosives, plus an Enchanted Anarchist’s Battle Rattle patch jacket that boosts all base stats and improves thrown explosives. When Carl carefully questions Mordecai, Mordecai confirms that Drakea was a famous former crawler who fought the naga-controlled season, died after a suspicious trap failure, and still cost the Sultanate heavily through legal action. Mordecai also explains that Macro AIs inevitably go insane through what some call Primal Degeneration.

Messages from other crawlers interrupt the loot session. Elle reports that a gigantic fire god named Emberus is rampaging across popped bubble worlds, crushing settlements and setting whole areas ablaze while searching for “Orthrus.” Carl realizes this destruction may be a consequence of what he summoned. Mordecai brings out the possessed doll head Samantha, who confirms that Emberus is a major god and that Orthrus is his lost dog, apparently released from the Nothing along with the current disaster.

The situation worsens when crawlers trapped in other bubbles report deadly heat and direct attacks. Tserendolgor, a dog-soldier crawler, says Emberus has mistaken her for Orthrus and is pounding on her bubble while 160 crawlers are trapped inside. Carl accepts responsibility for the crisis and concludes that the only way to stop Emberus is to recover the real Orthrus and return him. With less than an hour before lightning begins, Carl and his allies prepare to move immediately.