As Carl’s team nears cannibal territory, Olga enlarges the truck’s wheels to handle the rougher path. Imani warns that enemies are hiding in the trees, and pale humanlike cannibals immediately begin dropping onto the vehicle. The attackers throw themselves at the shield in such numbers that they start overheating it, while Donut floods the area with light and discovers the creatures react to it like maddened insects.

When the road reaches a gruesome bridge decorated with skeletons and body parts, Donut uses Astral Paw to sweep the cannibals aside and snap the structure loose. Her attack clears the path, but she complains that the upgraded spell now has a much longer cooldown. The truck continues toward the village as the shield nears failure and more cannibals keep slamming themselves into it.

A huge masked figure blocks the road: Great Rusty, the level 99 southern cannibal chieftain. Carl learns from the system that these cannibals are "gingers" with acid immunity and a soul-sucking attack. Great Rusty’s chant is resisted by Carl, but Olga is hit with the Gingered debuff, collapses unconscious, and begins losing health. Donut kills Great Rusty with a magic missile, which stops Olga’s health drain and wakes her, but Olga remains vacant and unresponsive.

Mordecai explains that killing Great Rusty returned Olga’s soul, yet Olga still needs specialized cleric healing and will remain in a fugue until then. Carl pulls Olga from the driver’s seat and orders Finley to take over. The team crashes through the cannibal village and escapes back onto the road, while Imani and Elle stay close behind.

The escape creates a new problem. Because Great Rusty is dead, the system issues a mandatory quest, Pasty Inferno, declaring that Carl’s track cannot finish the race unless Maurice, the northern tribe’s chieftain, is also killed. Carl angrily blames Dr. Metcalf for bad information, the AI snaps back, and Donut keeps firing at lingering attackers as Finley speeds the truck onward.