The party discusses their plan to access the Air castle, a gnome fortress called Wasteland held aloft by giant balloons. Donut learns a new spell, Astral Paw, which allows her to project and move a paw from a distance. Carl reviews achievements from the fourth floor and opens multiple loot boxes, or boxes of valuable items gifted to crawlers by System AI for achievements. His gifted items allow him the ability to walk on walls and spread debuffs—or a reduction in his stats—across abilities. His also gains an Extinction Sigil tattoo that appears on his face, increasing damage from lizard-class enemies. Most significantly, he receives Pawna’s Tears, a potion that can add five levels to any skill of his choosing. Mordecai calls it the best loot Carl has received. Katia and Donut also open boxes, with Katia receiving multiple water-breathing scrolls and Donut getting a Wall of Fire spell book.

Carl messages all contacts in the chat—through which many crawlers communicate with each other—and learns only Gwendolyn Duet, a human fighter, is confirmed in their bubble, located in the Land Quadrant. After training, Carl visits Skarn, a young changeling orphan, to use his telescope. He examines the floating gnome fortress, the Wasteland, observing its massive scale, weapon emplacements, and a bomb. Skarn reveals the gnomes do not bomb Hump Town because the Dromedarians hold something hostage in city hall.

Carl formulates a plan to find other crawlers and investigate city hall, where he theorizes the gnome leader’s child or other loved one may be held. Mordecai shows them the new food synthesizers and marketplace interface in their personal space, explaining the marketplace will enable trading with factions starting on the sixth floor. Carl recalls a warning about the interface potentially revealing a crawler’s high-value items to others, making them a target.

They visit the Spit and Swallow bar and meet Firas and Louis, two drunk and uncooperative low-level crawlers. Donut intimidates them into agreeing to meet later, as Carl is gathering everyone to discuss how to raid the castles. They find six Finnish archers led by a man named Langley, who is more serious about their situation. A Dromedarian explains the planet’s dual-sun system and 24-hour cycle, which causes waves of extreme heat and the sandstorms.

The party heads toward another town but encounters a Level 34 Thorny Devil. Carl’s new tattoo increases the damage he takes from the lizard-class mob. They kill it with combined attacks, finishing with a hob-lobber. The explosion attracts a gnome biplane. Using a preplanned tactic, Donut teleports them away from the plane’s payload, a large metallic egg. Carl damages the plane with another hob-lobber, forcing it to retreat. The dropped egg malfunctions, killing its contents: a Level 45 Feral Goose boss. Carl loots the corpse and broken deployment device. Spotting more gnome planes gathering, they abort the mission and retreat to Hump Town. Carl decides they need to build a fast vehicle with defensive capabilities.

Carl and Katia use their crafting benches, which allow them to use accumulated materials to build various objects or weapons, to build a tracked all-terrain vehicle. Katia drinks a potion to gain the mechanical knowledge needed for the design. The system officially names it the Tracked All-Terrain “Suicide” Machine, and Katia receives an achievement for inventing it. During a test drive outside town, they notice the gnome fortress, Wasteland—which moves at certain times of day, according to locals—is off schedule, positioned over the Bactrian village. Flares launch from the distant town moments before the Wasteland carpet-bombs it. Mordecai and Donut return with bazookas and rockets.

Back inside, Mordecai explains safe-room mechanics: certain locations, like bars, are bombproof, but they only protect NPCs when crawlers are present. NPCs along in unsafe locations will be killed by the bombing. The recap show begins, first showing rival top crawler Prepotente’s team being sabotaged by crawler Quan Ch, then highlighting Carl’s role in ending the fourth floor. The show presents a tribute to Ifechi, a healer who partnered with someone called Florin. A crawler with apparent mental illness, Lucia Mar, experiences delusions and used a damage-reflection spell called Rubber to force Florin to shoot Ifechi in the head. Florin received credit for killing Ifechi and is shown grieving. The new top 10 displays Carl at number two and Lucia Mar at number one. Carl and his party agree that Lucia needs to be stopped.

After a brief system announcement about bathroom etiquette, Carl’s party meets with the eight other crawlers from their quadrant at the Toe. Mordecai warns via chat that Juice Box, the changeling sex worker, is far more dangerous than her level suggests due to her rapid shapeshifting ability. When Juice Box insults Donut by asking if she is a dog, Donut becomes enraged. Carl pays her to find other crawlers and brings everyone into their personal space for a strategy meeting.

Louis and Firas remain extremely drunk and disruptive. When they continue joking around, Mordecai shatters a table and threatens to have Donut kill them. He leaves to prepare special potions. Louis reveals he received Cloud of Exhaust, a legendary spell, for accidentally driving his convertible van into the dungeon. He and Firas have been using it defensively to escape fights rather than properly utilizing its knockout potential. Mordecai returns with Rapid Detox potions. Both men drink and begin projectile vomiting violently. The potion clears all alcohol and drugs from their systems and prevents intoxication for the entire floor, with violent illness as punishment for drinking. Mordecai explains Louis has been squandering a legendary-tier spell that should have made him level 40 by now. Louis is distraught that he effectively can no longer drink.