The recap episode is mostly redacted, showing only scattered highlights of other crawlers being killed by bizarre monsters and brief footage of Elle and Prepotente capturing powerful totems. Mordecai spots Prime Minister Glory near Kevin the announcer, calling it unusual, and says he plans to get gossip by stealing a newsletter; he also urges Carl to find a Desperado Club for supplies.

After the show, the leaderboard refreshes with little change: Prepotente remains first, Princess Donut second, and Carl third. New faces include Osvaldo, a level-60 Curupira ranger, and Burcu, a level-59 Porsuk swashbuckler; Carl recalls that Burcu, Osvaldo, and Prepotente fought after Imogen’s death on the previous floor while Carl was knocked out.

Cascadia then delivers a long announcement explaining the floor’s card-based combat system. Squads must keep six totems active in their deck, and card types include totems, utility, snare, mystic, and special. Carl learns that in deck-to-deck combat using the deck becomes mandatory, and the squad leader loses access to regular magic and the inventory system until the deck is played out, making protection and synergy crucial.

Carl explains the implications to Donut, emphasizing the real-time nature of fights, uncertainty about opponents’ decks, and the need for escape and snare options. Katia starts compiling known card types, while Mordecai predicts part two of the floor will involve intelligent deck-using enemies and a push toward a boss holding a stairwell key. Carl decides they should use the saferoom’s new practice arena to test their totems, including Geraldo.

Before they go, Samantha messages with “good news and bad news”: she has found a powerful mage who could restore Samantha to a body, but Samantha was eaten by the creature. Samantha describes the monster as a spider-like demigoddess in a southern coastal swamp, surrounded by webs, named Shi Maria with many aliases. Consulting the Bahamas book, Carl confirms the unique monster and, despite its terrifying abilities, begins considering Shi Maria as a potential recruit while planning how to rescue Samantha without being crippled by insanity or blindness attacks.