Chapter 40

As the tenth-floor race begins, Carl's team receives new vehicle upgrades and learns critical race rules involving a toxic-air survival containment bubble that can be lost if their vehicle is destroyed. They discover that Team Flamengo—led by the antagonistic crawler Osvaldo riding the armored Slaughter Gnu Bruna—will be racing in the same heat, forcing Carl to attempt negotiation while Donut dismisses any hope of cooperation.

Team Free Love prepares for the race with their upgraded truck, joined by Donut, Finley, and the increasingly withdrawn fire fairy Que. After Donut's failed attempt to join the Singers' Guild, the group arrives at the starting line where they learn the new race mechanics from announcer Zev: all vehicles are protected by an indestructible survival containment bubble that shields against toxic air, but losing the vehicle means losing the bubble—though teams can still theoretically survive and cross the finish line if they prepare countermeasures. Winners receive keys to loot defeated teams' garages. As teams arrive, Carl spots Team Flamengo entering the race with Osvaldo, a level 72 Curupira crawler, and Filipe L, a level 63 Strongman, both riding Bruna the Slaughter Gnu, a heavily armored six-legged war beast. Carl recognizes Osvaldo as a former top-chart competitor whose team was decimated and who lost his pet stone hawk Gimli and a memorial crystal related to mysterious deity Tupa. Realizing Osvaldo's team worships a god—meaning they cannot access the Pineapple Cabaret and are thus trapped—Carl attempts to convince Osvaldo to avoid killing other racers, fearing the consequences. Osvaldo refuses to cooperate, and Donut's hostile response about their earlier conflicts drives a wedge between them, though Donut acknowledges the grim reality that only one team can survive.