Chapter 50

Carl receives sponsorship boxes from the Tyrant and the Plenty, with rewards including stat bonuses and patches granting protection against vampirism and lycanthropy. Donut receives a bracelet from the Apothecary with similar benefits. When Mordecai opens a silver box from the Apothecary, it contains a potion recipe for Charm Animal and a photo of Mongo—but the recipe requires Mongo's blood as an ingredient, which Donut refuses to allow. The chapter ends with an urgent message from Miriam Dom asking for help before dawn.

Carl, Donut, and Mordecai discuss the Princess Posse merchandise initiative and Donut's controversial advocacy regarding dog breeds. Mordecai reveals he testified against Odette during her trial as a manager, not as a crawler. The three open their new sponsorship boxes. Carl receives a small amethyst shard (+3 dexterity) from the Gold Tyrant Box and a patch featuring a gray goat head from the Plenty's Gold Benefactor Box. The patch is identified as an Upgrade Patch for the Midnight Epicure, granting protection against vampirism and lycanthropy, plus 25% magical damage against sapient undead, and +1 to all stats. Donut receives a gold box from the Apothecary containing a silver bracelet with purple garlic-shaped gems—the Enchanted Silver Bracelet of the Ab-solar—with identical benefits to Carl's patch. Mordecai notes the matching rewards suggest the Apothecary and the Plenty are working together. Carl's second box from the Apothecary contains a potion recipe for Charm Animal and a drawing of Mongo. Mordecai recognizes the recipe as one he's been seeking for fifty cycles; he confirms they have all necessary ingredients except one—Mongo's blood. The potion requires a liter of blood per brew. Donut adamantly refuses to allow them to drain Mongo's blood, viewing it as a betrayal of trust. The chapter closes with an urgent message from Miriam Dom stating she is trapped and will not survive until dawn without help.