Carl, Donut, and Mongo travel back to Point Mongo with two were-castors, Clint and Holger, while Signet’s scouts search for more hunters. Carl realizes the were-castors are unusually insistent on getting him and Donut to a saferoom because Signet has been pressured by the showrunners to make sure they are available for Odette’s show. That reminder makes Carl think again about how much control the showrunners can exert over elite NPCs and whether elites like Signet could ever become fully self-aware.

During the walk, Donut teases Holger about his mullet and chats with the were-castors about Signet. Holger explains that he and Clint knew Signet when they were young, after she was cursed and lived in their village, and he says Imogen later attacked that village and killed most of their people. The conversation turns to Scolopendra’s past attack: Holger says his people may have survived because they had already been hit by a transfiguration spell, while Clint says the high elves protected themselves inside their castle with stolen magic. The two repeat rumors that the high elves once descended to Scolopendra, took soul gems, and may have stolen an item that shielded them from the centipede’s devastating multi-attack.

The argument over those old rumors escalates into a childish but brutal fistfight between Clint and Holger. Carl is disturbed both by how suddenly the violence starts and by how far it goes, especially when he remembers that a were-castor bite could infect him. Before Carl can fully break them up, Donut warns that invisible enemies are approaching, and the two were-castors instantly stop fighting, draw weapons, and form a defensive line, showing how disciplined and combat-ready they are when real danger appears.

The attackers are a pack of invisible night weasels, similar to the creatures that previously paralyzed Carl. Donut tries to help by casting a song-based buff, but her singing fails under pressure. Carl drops a smoke curtain, uses Fear and a banger sphere, and kills several once they become targetable. Mongo contributes heavily by pouncing on the weasels and using Earthquake, which damages the ground-based enemies and reveals them. Clint and Holger do most of the work, proving immune to the paralysis and tearing through the pack with speed, teeth, and weapons.

After the short fight, Holger bluntly tells Donut that her singing is off-key and could become dangerous with stronger bard spells, then offers to help her find instruction in town before the planned assault. The group reaches Point Mongo and sees that Mordecai has reinforced the approach with mushroom guards and carefully placed alarm traps keyed to hunters and pet-class mobs. Donut has to persuade the guards to let Clint and Holger enter, and then Zev sends a notice that Carl and Donut have only fifteen minutes to reach a saferoom.

On the bridge, Carl and Donut receive an admin notice that both of them have gained their third and final sponsor: The Apothecary. They discover that the same sponsor has also backed many of the other top crawlers, which makes Donut indignant because she does not want to share attention or rewards. Carl suspects the sponsorship is a major political move by a wealthy power tied to the wider universe rather than a personal endorsement, which reminds him that outside forces are continuing to maneuver around the crawlers’ fight for survival.