Chapter 28

Carl and Donut appear on a live broadcast hosted by Botis, a goat magistrate of the Plenty, where they are subjected to a bizarre trial-by-judgment ritual. During the proceedings, Carl's interface comes back online and he receives urgent messages from Orren and Prime Minister Victory revealing that gods have escaped the dungeon and the rogue AI has spread beyond the solar system, killing entire civilizations. Carl publicly broadcasts a warning about the danger, breaking Orren's carefully planned approach.

Carl and Donut enter a dark studio where Botis, a demonic-looking caprid magistrate, greets them enthusiastically and seats them on stools on a turntable in the center of a spotlight. They are immediately sentenced to death by a circle of unseen goats, then given the opportunity to appeal. The turntable spins to face different judges—various goats who ask personal questions and render judgments. One judge asks about Carl's foliage intake; another, a smaller red-colored goat in robes, is satisfied with Donut's answer about Carl's food problems and removes their death sentence. As Carl's interface suddenly reactivates, he receives private messages from Orren and Prime Minister Victory. They reveal that Justice Light's trap broke the Nothing, releasing dangerous entities onto multiple dungeon floors, including the dread Kyryap and Krakaren Prime. More critically, a rogue AI has spread across multiple star systems, destroying entire civilizations, and uncontrolled gods have escaped the dungeon and manifested near tunnel nodes. The gods cannot be controlled by the AI due to hard-coded limitations, creating an unprecedented crisis. Orren asks Carl to question the Plenty leadership about the integrity of the tunneling system, but Carl instead publicly asks whether the public knows about the escaped gods and the AI threat. Prime Minister Victory realizes the broadcast is live and the AI allowed the message to transmit, indicating the situation has escalated further.