Chapter 45

Carl negotiates with Edict, a mantis accountant from the Dark Hive, who has been sent by the infected Vrah to trade goods. Unable to secure the loot through conventional means, Edict deliberately provokes Carl into combat to achieve an honorable death that protects his family's honor and financial security, resulting in his teleportation and the unexpected drop of a massive amount of gold.

Carl encounters Edict, a Level 50 mantis merchant and accountant from the Dark Hive, whom Bomo had attacked twice in the saferoom. Edict explains he is contractually obligated to deliver all collected gear directly to the Burrowers, the mantis governmental entity, and cannot sell to Carl without ruining his family financially. He reveals the impossible bind he faces: refusing Vrah's mating demands would invite retaliation from her powerful family, but complying would violate inter-hive coupling laws and bring shame to his own lineage. Edict expresses despair about mantis expansion across the stars, calling it "a slow, horrific death." When Vrah arrives in the hallway, visibly suffering from the venereal disease Carl gave her, Edict deliberately attacks Carl a third time, deliberately triggering the saferoom's punishment system. He is stripped of his gear and teleported naked to the nearest mob nest—which Edict accepts as an honorable death that protects both his family's honor and finances. An enormous pile of gold coins unexpectedly drops where he stood. Carl closes the door and prepares to leave the pub in Alucarda, which lies in ruins from his earlier bomb, before hunters or Lucia return.