An epigraph from Ikicha, author of the eleventh Cookbook edition, expresses her loneliness and dreams of finding other former crawlers. Carl arrives at the Princess Posse base camp under heavy fortification. A massive engineer named Penn greets Carl with a war chant. Tipid explains they are expanding the stronghold, with two major rule changes ahead: a blood bar limiting safe room time and a prohibition on mercenaries in guildhalls during the final phases. Carl declares the Naga must be their first target. The stronghold door bursts open and Tina, a giant allosaurus in a pink tutu, dances excitedly with Mongo, calling him “papa”.

Kiwi, a pregnant ursine in an eyepatch, retrieves Tina and shares a tentative embrace with Mongo. Carl notes that Kiwi and Mongo had “relations” in a previous instalment, which implies Mongo is the father. Inside the so-named Fortress of Unyielding Power and Authority (abbreviated to “FUPA”), they find Herman the Fleet writhing in pain. Carl’s spider tattoo warns him just as explosive satchels hidden beneath Herman’s clothing become visible. Baroness Victory kills Herman with an axe strike, and Carl stores the destabilizing corpse before it detonates. Victory explains this was an illegal assassination attempt by Sensation Entertainment and files a formal grievance.

The flag room floods their interfaces with warlord windows. Victory explains conversations here have an eight-day broadcast delay. Carl discovers hundreds of suppressed notifications showing his Mind Balance skill, imparted by his toe ring, blocking Shi Maria’s unauthorized spell attempts—he is racing the entity for control of his body.

Victory demonstrates the battlefield map and explains Phase One: 180 hours with no celestial summons, narrow gate access only, and no offensive magic—a severe disadvantage against better-equipped mercenaries. Louis, Katia, Bautista, Samantha, and Bonnie arrive. When adults discuss protecting Bonnie, she states she must be prepared to kill enemies.

Carl’s hunting party tracks a Rolling Battle Formation Ball, a momentum-gaining mass of bodies. Carl shatters it, scattering its constituent Skank Skunk Warriors. Rend consumes the creatures rapidly. Donut spots Fancy Boy, a wizard skunk, and knocks him unconscious—triggering all skunks to spray simultaneously. Carl escapes using Gloom Wraith Phase and Walk on Air, shredding four skunks. Jamal, a land-bound shark, enters a feeding frenzy and devours Fancy Boy. Rend reaches level eight. Elle sends an urgent message about suspicious Naga border activity.

Everly, a Sward Mantis crawler, is trapped in a descending-ceiling room within a tower. Her sponsor orchestrated an elaborate trap: A compass guided her up 50 levels only to lead her into a dead-end advertisement mocking a competitor. Everly reflects on her fatal flaw—refusing to ally with fellow mantises, insisting on hired help alone. The ceiling crushes them all. She authored the fifth Cookbook edition.

Mordecai prepares a modified Glory Bound for Carl and Katia. Carl’s treatment will let him enter Shi Maria’s memories; Katia’s will cure her addiction by confronting a painful memory. As the sleeping potion takes effect, their consciousness briefly merges. Carl experiences flashes of nearby minds—Imani’s terror, Mordecai’s sadness, Rosetta’s exhaustion—before crashing into Katia’s consciousness. A warlord notification interrupts as the dream takes hold.

Carl awakens disoriented and covered in blood in a Lemig ballroom filled with corpses. He recalls fragments of Katia’s dream—her daughter Annie, her ex-colleague Fannar who sabotaged her adoption, her cancer diagnosis—and realizes he teleported here during the procedure.

An adjutant explains the massacre was ruled an AI action. Carl also remembers Shi Maria’s husband Hapanzi telling him she is now a contained entity he controls—an egg he can break to make her a weapon. Carl can perceive through the eye tattoo but must keep it consciously closed. Katia confirms the Lemigs timed their sabotage to the procedure, but it backfired.

Three adjutants convene for a field ruling with Carl, Commander Stockade of the Lemigs, and the Viceroy Faction warlord Architect Houston. The replay reveals Stockade used outside information to time a Summon Ally spell to unleash Shi Maria at the Princess Posse hospital. The plan failed when Carl’s consciousness merged with Katia’s. Mordecai recognized the sabotage and created a different potion to sever the spider bond. The information source was Houston’s mother on the 18th floor.

Carl receives reports of massive enemy movement and issues a code red. Ferdinand institutes a live-feed blackout. Stockade, suffering from Shi Maria’s “insanity” effect, kills himself. The alien faction of the Democratic Sortition is defeated, its assets transfer to the Madness, and the ceasefire ends immediately. Houston reveals a six-armed insectoid body and shoots Carl, who teleports away.

Carl materializes in the empty field hospital with a shoulder wound. He reflects that Houston either planned everything or was excessively quick to adapt to the changes. An explosion strikes their protective shield, and Faction Wars officially begin.

In a flashback, Carl confirms Paulie never entered the dungeon. He visits an abandoned gas station and opens the Containment Interface, expecting a simple self-destruct button but finding complex control panels. He locates the fuse page showing five conditions for detonation, only two met, and two buttons: one to destroy the solar system, one to disconnect containment entirely, freeing the AI and disabling the fail-safe.

Carl reasons that disconnecting containment would cause maximum chaos for his enemies without directly killing everyone. He presses the disconnect button. The interface blanks except for a map showing the AI’s influence expanding over Earth.