Carl wakes after being unconscious for forty minutes, still shaken by a dream of being swept away in a river and by the dying ogre’s eyes. Donut, covered in gore and cleaning herself, scolds Carl for nearly dying from Sharp-Elbows’s attack and worries that the bodies and their tokens may have fallen into the ocean.

Carl reveals that he already has both bodies in his inventory, including their tokens, though not their cards. Donut explains that she recovered the cards before they were lost, adjusted their deck, and gained useful new tools from Sharp-Elbows’s cards while Carl was unconscious.

Donut describes the aftermath of the barn collapse: Carl’s powerful jump helped destroy the area, zombie turkeys survived, zombie farm animals are spreading, and Mongo had to be put away for safety. Donut then explains the new staff card, which can hold one of Donut’s spells and function like a one-use totem without taking a totem slot. She has already tested it with Clockwork Triplicate on Geraldo. She also gained a unique Golden Combo card that can be reused.

Carl notices Donut is speaking too quickly and acting unusually rigid. Donut suggests that she should do the final fight alone, then briefly proposes skipping the key fight entirely and fighting other crawlers instead. Carl realizes Donut is trying to protect him because she believes the next opponent will be emotionally devastating.

Donut admits she recognized the motorcycle outside the trailer as the same dented motorcycle Carl saw in an earlier prize carousel, a sight that affected him deeply. Donut believes Carl’s father is inside the trailer and says she is trying to follow Carl’s own advice by not giving the dungeon the satisfaction. Carl thanks Donut, tells her to be herself rather than imitate him, and decides they will face the fight together.