Carl joins Li Jun and Zhang on the way to the saferoom entrance, but the group first detours to the newly built brig near Donut’s Nest tower and the ruined Dagda temple. Donut remains at the Nest with Li Na and Toyotomi, learning how to use the tower’s synergy while mages enchant the blocks.

Li Jun notices that Carl has been unusually quiet about the many rewards from the Club Vanquisher raid. Carl admits he is worried about Louis, Donut, Elle’s plan, Boomer’s troop numbers, the Dream’s missing forces, and the war mages waiting for Phase Three. Li Jun presses that Carl himself seems overworked, especially because Carl has not shared most of his loot and his Emberus tattoos now make his hands glow.

Carl privately reviews the aftermath of the raid: thirty-two loot boxes, more than fifty achievements, and several major rewards or consequences. Carl has been banned from most temples but is somehow still recognized as a friend by several churches, including surprising ones such as Hellik, Apito, Eris, Issitoq, and Grull. A legendary box gives Carl a patch that can redirect a fatal blow into a party member once per floor, but Carl refuses to wear it or tell the others because the benefit is morally unacceptable.

Carl also recalls achievements tied to surviving the gods at Club Vanquisher, fighting Khepri, and using a borrowed ability in battle. The celestial chaos remains partly unexplained because someone allowed gods into the temple, and Carl does not believe Samantha was responsible this time. Another reward raises Carl’s Pugilism skill to 15 and prompts Mordecai, Rosetta, and Zev to investigate the AI’s unusually direct hint about combining Carl’s tattoos with the voodoo book.

Emberus has made Carl’s divine situation worse by giving Carl a new quest to kill 100 worshipers of Hellik before the twelfth floor in exchange for a permanent celestial boon. Emberus then sends a disturbing message suggesting uncertainty about Hellik, Issitoq, Amayon, Geyrun, and their family, while also warning that if Carl survives killing Hellik, Emberus may punish Carl for hurting kin. Carl feels trapped between divine demands and wonders whether accepting a smiting might be preferable.

As the group reaches the brig, Carl asks whether anyone has tried to escape. Zhang says only one prisoner remains. Carl reflects that he gave Li Na his spare Ring of Divine Suffering after Donut urgently asked him to, and he realizes Li Na has likely used it on the untrusted off-world mercenaries. The one remaining captive is the person Carl specifically ordered spared, and Carl steels himself before entering the building.