Carl reports to Katia about meeting Damascus Steel in the Guild of Suffering. Damascus offered Carl a job for the “family,” asked whether Carl intended to kill Katia for the prize, and then gave Carl a detailed map of the Desperado Club’s hidden routes after spiders swarmed Carl’s arm. The new map reveals secret passages, monster tunnels, a hidden potion market, and drug dens, giving Carl and Katia potential tools for their planned move against Astrid.

Katia asks about Donut and learns that Donut went to the club’s upper floor, danced with Gluteus Maxx, and was watched by Li Na at Katia’s request. Carl and Katia also discuss the awkward cover story Damascus forced on them when they left the private cubicles, then Katia warns Carl to be careful while rescuing Samantha. Meanwhile, Donut is excited about a new jewel installed in a tiara.

Carl explains that he and Donut kept the tiara of Mana Genita and bought a blank tiara for the citrine jewel. The resulting Enchanted Tiara of the Inebriated Dragonfly grants potion cooldown reduction, intelligence, poison protection, immunity to dexterity penalties while drunk, and a limited Hover skill. Donut becomes obsessed with hovering, while Carl tries to make her conserve the five daily uses for emergencies.

As Carl, Donut, and Mongo travel toward the southern coast to find Samantha, they pass through wetlands and encounter a massive pileup of crashed cars blocking the road. Donut spots hundreds or thousands of ground mobs ahead. Carl stops the chariot, has the group prepare to retreat, and orders stealth because the marshland prevents an easy detour.

Past the bend, Carl sees enormous red-and-black land crabs migrating toward the ocean. A quest update for “The Chowder War” reveals that the crabs are launching a surprise mass attack against the monk seals by concentrating in the south, forcing Carl to consider which side to support. Carl still does not want to lose time on the conflict, but he wants to flag a crab for his deck.

Carl notices a lone crab named Raul meditating on a crashed box truck, apparently attempting to ascend from cloud rank before battle. Raul loudly encourages himself with cultivation-style declarations, while Donut struggles to understand his jargon. Because Raul is isolated from the main swarm, Carl decides to try capturing him without alerting the other crabs and tells Donut they are making a crab trap.