Rosetta receives confirmation from Baroness Victory that the stolen funds reached their destination and were likely used to buy two ships. Victory says the final part of their bargain depends on the Homecoming Queen obeying orders and destroying an orc yacht. Rosetta is relieved that her primary mission is complete, though she is disturbed because the yacht carries children, including the new heir to the Skull Empire after Stalwart's death.

Rosetta reflects on Porthus's larger plan: the families of dungeon entrants are meant to flee on a generation ship to the Plenty system, trade one ship and the remaining funds to the goats, and seek passage through a distant forbidden gate. Rosetta recognizes that events outside the dungeon have followed Porthus's predictions too closely, and she suspects the Apothecary's influence. Though Porthus trusts the Apothecary, Rosetta distrusts collective minds and fears the Apothecary's hidden motives.

Messages from Tipid and Justice Light bring Rosetta back to the immediate crisis. Harpocrates and Yarilo remain threats, Li Na is incapacitated by grief over Li Jun's death, and the war mages have seized the Gate. Justice Light insists that the unknown war mage faction, led by the residual Agatha, must be stopped before they ruin everything.

Rosetta initially argues that if the crawlers die and the Ascendency begins, Rectrix may complete his work, the mercenary leaders will be dead, and the rebellion's message will already have succeeded. However, Agatha's role as warlord unsettles Rosetta. Agatha appears to be a rarer residual aligned with Eulogist-associated forces, making her an enemy of the Apothecary and an unknown danger whose motives cannot be trusted.

Rosetta weighs exhaustion against duty, remembering her mother's death, Brooks's murder by Rust, her later revenge, and the limited impact of her documentary work after leaving the dungeon. Carl's words about masks and the courage of Donut, Justice Light, Tipid, and the other crawlers push Rosetta toward action. Because Rosetta trusts and loves Porthus, and because Justice Light is her comrade, Rosetta chooses to keep fighting.

Rosetta formally rallies her allies, declaring that the enemy has changed, the war mages have taken Larracos, and the remaining forces must fight with everything they have. The chapter closes with Rosetta's class, history, accomplishments, and current alive status, identifying Rosetta as the author of the ninth edition of the Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook.