As Carl’s team waits for the next race to begin, Dorota complains about carrying both Carl and Donut, and Donut continues fuming over her failed attempt to sing her way into the guildhall’s karaoke lock. Finley tries to be polite about Donut’s performance, while Carl notices that Que has become unusually withdrawn after the group’s earlier contact with the awakened NPC Akuma.

With about ten minutes left before the start, Carl studies the jungle track and the team’s new vehicle upgrades: a stabilizing gyro, a Bubble Buddy-style shield, and resizable all-terrain tires. Then Zev announces a major rules change for the heat. Every vehicle now gets an indestructible survival containment bubble to protect racers from toxic air, but if a vehicle is destroyed or a mount dies, the team loses the bubble instead of automatically losing the race. Zev also reveals that all teams must make a two-hour pit stop, that countermeasures for toxic air will be sold, that winners now receive keys to loot a defeated team’s garage, and that multiple heats will be racing on the same track.

After the announcement, the containment bubble appears around Carl’s truck, and Carl immediately understands the practical danger: the team will need more breathing potions in case they lose the bubble. Other competitors begin arriving one by one. Team Sparkles appears with upgraded exhausts, the Lady Dominators arrive as usual with Corky unconscious in back, and One Fine Pig shows up in a humbling audience-voted vehicle wrap that amuses Carl and Donut.

Carl’s mood shifts when he sees the final entrant: Team Flamengo, reduced to Osvaldo, Filipe L, and their armored mount Bruna the Slaughter Gnu. Carl reflects on Flamengo’s decline, their past tendency to avoid open conflict, and Osvaldo’s lingering connection to the stolen memorial crystal of Apito. What disturbs Carl most is realizing that Osvaldo and Filipe worship a deity, which likely means they would be unable to use the Pineapple Cabaret if Carl’s broader escape plan succeeds. Instead of becoming people Carl can save, they may remain direct competitors in a race where one team must lose.

Trying to prevent unnecessary deaths, Carl messages Osvaldo with warnings about the other racers, including the danger of provoking Taranis or the Lady Dominators, and urges him not to kill anyone while Carl works on a way to save as many crawlers as possible. Osvaldo coldly refuses Carl’s guidance and says he only promises not to attack Carl’s team unless forced. Donut answers with open hostility, then quietly acknowledges the painful truth: Osvaldo is not going to help them, and emotionally distancing themselves may be the only way to face a race that could end with one crawler team destroying another.