Chapter 13

After a deadly confrontation at the Desperado Club where Donut kills an assassin in self-defense, Carl and his crew investigate the map of transfer stations Mordecai discovered. They learn the stations follow a prime number pattern and split up to investigate further, while Carl plans to interrogate one of the train engineers. The chapter ends with Carl winning a Scroll of Upgrade at the casino's Wheel of Fortune game.

At the Desperado Club, Donut kills a level 21 knife sharpener named Ji-Hoon when he and an accomplice attack her group. Elle kills the woman casting spells from the crowd. Astrid, a level 125 Bloodlust Sprite and Assistant Manager, apologizes on behalf of management and grants them complimentary security, refunding 400 gold (though they had paid 500, revealing they were cheated). Carl convinces Astrid to be lenient with their rock monster guards Bomo and The Sledge, earning their loyalty. Donut struggles emotionally with killing a real person despite being drunk, but Carl reassures her. Later, Carl, Donut, Imani, and Elle examine Mordecai's map at a table. Elle identifies that all checked-off transfer stations are prime numbers—a pattern Carl and Imani had missed. They decide to split their investigation: Imani and Elle will investigate one of the fifth-station platforms while Carl and Donut plan to capture and interrogate an engineer. The group resupplies at the Silk Road and explores newly opened guild halls, including a locked Dodge skill room requiring level 7 mastery. They then visit the casino, where Tito explains the Wheel of Fortune game. Carl uses his 100,000 gold comp chip to spin, winning a Scroll of Upgrade that enhances his Enchanted Toe Ring of the Splatter Skunk, increasing its strength bonus from +3 to +10 and granting +5 to Powerful Strike skill. Carl decides to return to base to train and prepare before crashing the train.