Chapter 62

Carl and his team prepare for the Dungeon Crawler Race, a high-speed vehicular competition through an active factory filled with molten metal floors and neighborhood bosses. The chapter opens with a touching letter from a fellow crawler (Mees Koning) thanking Princess Donut for a moment of kindness, then shifts to the pre-race moments as Carl's team takes their positions at the starting line with Dong, Porky, Grigori, and Donut aboard.

The chapter begins with an entry from Mees Koning, a Half-Orc mage who writes to thank Princess Donut for showing him kindness during the Faction Wars—a brief moment when she complimented his appearance and listened to his story, which he credits with giving him strength. He includes a drawing of a Big-Ass Magnet spell as a gift. The narrative then shifts to Carl in the pet stables, where he feeds Rend and the other creatures before the race begins. Dong mentions his dream of one final charge on a beast like Gonk the swamp yak. Carl receives messages indicating that Akuma has left the party and been disqualified, and that Zhang is now the solo driver with an octopus mount named Bodi. Mordecai cryptically warns about the cactus again, which concerns Donut. As Carl approaches the starting line, he observes the competing teams: the Lady Dominators two spots away, Osvaldo nearby, and Dwight alone in the distance. Other guild members are on different tracks: Louis, Imani, and Zhang on the Infected Gravity Well; Florin on There's Something Wrong with the Zoo. Dong's health is critically low (yellow turning red), though he claims to feel fine. Grigori suffers from motion sickness even before acceleration. Dr. Metcalf analyzes the track map, revealing a straightforward path through the factory with multiple sections, narrow tracks, wide-open spaces, and a floor of molten metal where neighborhood bosses reside. The team must navigate by driving on walls or ceilings. Carl coordinates with Osvaldo to get ahead and position themselves behind the Lady Dominators. The race is thirty minutes long with a twenty-kilometer distance. As the starting light turns green, the race begins.