After claiming a second totem card and adding Geraldo the monk seal to their squad, Carl and Princess Donut leave the beach and head deeper into ghost Havana with Paz, Anton, and Sister Ines, looking for a saferoom. As they travel, Zev messages them with schedule changes: Odette has postponed her show, so Carl and Donut are booked for Shadow Boxer, a sponsor-owned documentary interview focusing on Carl’s teen years and Donut’s TV-influenced worldview. Carl resists the personal focus but agrees once he learns a sponsor liaison will attend; Zev also warns them about a virtual, catered preproduction meeting for ninth-floor Faction Wars policy.

Before reaching safety, Carl gets an update from Bautista that Tran—recently injured and grieving Gwen—has begun moving around with a new floating wheelchair. Soon after, Donut and Sister Ines sense a large cluster of monsters nearby, and the group investigates.

They find a huge swarm of level-20 duendes—hairy, gnome-like scavengers apparently responsible for local crashes by stripping clothes and shoes from passing ghosts. Combat starts, and the crawlers split into positions while Mongo gleefully tears through the weak, uncoordinated monsters. As Carl racks up kills, his new essence bar fills quickly and turns a sickly brown; once full, a notification announces, “The Scavenger’s Daughter has been fed,” and Carl gains a new skill, The Daughter’s Kiss, which drains the essence bar to empower a melee strike.

To avoid the danger of carrying a full essence bar, Carl activates The Daughter’s Kiss and stomps a fleeing duende, vaporizing it and cracking the sidewalk with a shockwave that knocks other duendes down and rattles the area. Shaken by the sensation but relieved the nauseating feeling fades once the bar drains, Carl and Donut finish clearing the remaining monsters.

After the fight, Carl and Donut collect three common utility cards (two Time Extend cards and one Stout card), while Team Sister Ines gains two Time Extend cards and an uncommon, one-use Flee card that teleports the whole squad away from combat. Donut discovers she still can’t summon Geraldo yet, suggesting deck combat rules will be explained in an upcoming announcement. They reach the saferoom—a coffee shop called Cuba Libro—agree to regroup after the recap to clear a nearby mob-filled park, and plan to leave the city for stronger targets; afterward, Donut privately admits she likes Paz and mostly tolerates Anton but remains suspicious of Sister Ines.