Carl’s attempt to leave Town Hall quietly collapses almost immediately when enemy camels blast the blocked stair door with a rocket. The explosion injures Louis, knocks out Firas, sets the building on fire, and ruins the quest within minutes. Carl throws a hob-lobber down the hall, triggering a larger secondary blast when the attackers’ explosives detonate. To escape before more enemies arrive, Donut opens a Hole to an alley, Carl summons a temporary grulke decoy to draw attention, and Donut uses an upgraded puddle jump to move the group far down the street.

Outside, the team briefly sells the lie that frog creatures attacked Town Hall, but Katia warns the trick will not hold. Carl is more worried about the real consequence: Wynne, the gnome collateral in the basement, is dead, and Carl suspects Hump Town will be bombed just like the Bactrian town if the gnomes discover it. After the burning Town Hall collapses, the dromedarians rush to erect the town’s storm shield by hand. Carl and Donut question a dromedarian named Emerald and learn that the town must provide the gnomes with daily proof that the collateral is alive; if they fail, destruction follows. Mordecai suggests Donut may be able to spot changelings by using heat vision to look for unusually hot heads.

Carl sends Louis and Firas to the saferoom and thinks through the team’s larger problems. He still needs a way to reach the Wasteland with a stronger rocket, and he checks in with Gwendolyn Duet, who reports slow progress against the subterranean castle. Gwen’s group has breached the first wall and works under constant pressure from beach mobs and a powerful boss bird that destroys siege efforts. Gwen also reports seeing another crawler team in a submarine, confirming that someone is active in the water quadrant.

Before entering the Desperado Club, Carl, Donut, and Katia all receive second sponsors. Carl is dismayed that his new sponsor appears to be a pacifist nonprofit group, while Donut is thrilled to learn she set a series record for sponsorship bidding. Loita informs them that Donut, Carl, and Mongo will be required to appear in a product-promotion segment, and Katia is booked for a separate interview show. Loita also confirms Zev is still undergoing treatment.

At the club, Carl meets the subterranean crawlers Morris and Bobby instead of the full group. Their account confirms that their own collateral was a pig-like NPC, which they accidentally killed before the map was destroyed, and that their maze-like quadrant is nearly unnavigable without Carl’s map. Morris explains that Quetzalcoatlus, Emperor Anser’s murdered wife, survives as an enraged ghost within the tomb, and the changelings on Carl’s side want to restore her to flesh. Recognizing that all sides are trapped by the floor’s design, Carl offers cooperation instead of revenge: Katia and Donut will copy a usable route from the map for Morris and Bobby. Carl then resupplies, leaves as the storm begins, and receives benefactor boxes from both sponsors.