Juice Box interrupts the sponsor meeting after killing the Madness viceroy and quickly explains that Carl’s castle has landed in Lemig Sortion territory, where zombies caused by the landing have mostly been handled. She warns that Carl’s forces are trapped between blobs and snakes while orcs and blobs mass near the border, and that Carl’s team has begun building a castle for him.

When Epitome Tagg accuses Juice Box of working with Carl, Juice Box declares herself and the NPCs their own side. Juice Box demands that the sponsors create a tenth team for NPCs, with protections, regeneration, and voting rights. Carl supports the proposal because the NPCs and crawlers share enemies, and Urkel adds the action item to the queue.

Juice Box then detonates a hobgoblin pus device, killing the green blob participant while several sponsors flee. Moments later Prince Stalwart is struck through the eye by a magical arrow from an unknown attacker, fulfilling Juice Box’s earlier taunt though not necessarily by Juice Box herself. With most participants dead, gone, or regenerated out, Cascadia ends the meeting; Rishi proposes a compromise giving unaffiliated NPCs invulnerability and sanctuary, but also threatens harsh retaliation if Juice Box continues attacking.

After the meeting, Carl and Donut coordinate by chat with other crawlers, then continue grinding toward the Desperado Club. They kill spiders for Huanxin’s quest, level up, collect useful cards, and copy material from Carl’s Bahamas book for Pony. They also find a saferoom near the club so Mordecai can safely buy supplies, while Mordecai remains irritated about Donut revealing that his fostering of the changeling children is being made into a movie.

Inside the Desperado Club, Carl and Donut meet Katia, Bautista, Louis, Tran, Britney, Li Jun, Zhang, Li Na, Chris, and Florin. Carl and Katia privately discuss their secret assignment to assassinate Astrid, the club’s powerful assistant manager and head of security, and move her body to the Guild of Suffering. Because Astrid is dangerous and surrounded by guards, Katia begins thinking of a card-based killing plan while Carl considers how to lure Astrid into a safer location.

At the table, Donut tries to reassure Britney about her scar, Carl checks in with several battered crawlers, and Florin explains that he captured but cannot control a powerful unique totem. Florin gives Donut and Carl the level 140 undead healer-ranged totem HeyZoos, also called Uzi Jesus, filling another slot in their deck. Carl then leaves Donut to trade cards while he scouts the club and plans to visit the jeweler for Donut’s tiara before they continue toward Samantha.