Carl, Donut, Katia, and Mongo take a rapid-response cart down the Mindaro line after Bautista's second rescue cart never arrives. As they travel on battery power with the front portal active, Carl realizes the rescue system behaved differently than expected on the other lines: sometimes the second cart caught the first, meaning Bautista's group likely saw only one cart because the other had already been thrown back to a trainyard. Carl blames himself for not labeling the music traps better and reviews the larger evacuation effort, including the fact that station 72 has become a newly usable stairwell while station 36 remains defensible.

During the ride, Carl and Katia discuss her improving shapeshifting control, and Carl receives updates from the network. Elle and Tizquick help identify the correct line to the blown-open station 72, giving crawlers a safer descent route, while other defenders decide to hold station 36 because the monster pressure there is easing. Carl also learns that wrath ghouls can combine into another province boss, reinforcing how dangerous the floor remains even as rescue operations succeed.

Farther down the track, the cart nearly runs over five fleeing crawlers; Carl switches the portal in time and teleports them to trainyard E instead. Moments later, near station 433, Carl mistakes a fake railroad crossing for a real barrier. The obstacle is actually part of the station mimic city boss, and when the cart hits it, the portal sends the entire mimic to trainyard E. Carl immediately understands that he has turned yard E into a deadly trap.

When the group reaches Bautista's stranded survivors, Carl learns from Bautista that the mimic is extremely hard to kill because severed pieces turn into smaller creatures and crawl back to the main body. Carl contacts Elle, who asks her manager about giant mimics and confirms the only practical method is to separate more than half the creature's mass at once; otherwise it regenerates. Screenshots show the mimic in yard E is enormous and already reshaping itself into a giant building with a mouth aimed at the portal, convincing Carl that sending anyone through that route would be suicide.

Carl changes plans and decides to use the Abyss portal to yard H instead, relying on the stockpile of protective train hats so Bautista's people can pass safely. He even leaves extra hats behind for stragglers despite Donut's outrage over their value. The evacuation works: Bautista's 600 survivors reach safety, bringing the total rescued from the end of the line to just over 1,400 people. The grateful crowd applauds, then returns their hats to Donut in a ceremonial pile at Katia's suggestion, giving the group a brief, hard-won moment of triumph.