Chapter 16

Carl's group boards the Dismemberment Limited maglev train and discovers its operator is Levi the 7th, a pathetic symbiote creature hunted by Fleshers from the train's rear cars. A quest triggers requiring them to protect Levi from being devoured, forcing them to barricade the connecting door against waves of flesh-based minions and a War Mage named Dismember who threatens to flay them all. Carl decapitates Dismember by tricking him into extending his head through a hole opened by Donut's spell.

The chapter begins at Station 149 on the Ochre Line, where Carl loots Gore-Gore's corpse and obtains a comprehensive map of the entire Ochre Line showing train locations and monster positions. Katia has suffered permanent damage—her fingers were severed and did not regenerate—though Carl reassures her of her identity. The group enters a safe room for pho, where they discuss sponsors received (Donut: Princess D'nadia; Carl: Valtay Corporation; Katia: Princess Formidable of the Skull Empire) and receive critical intelligence from Elle and Imani about the floor's drug economy: every five stops, monsters visit Pooka bosses who distribute addictive, race-specific sedatives that keep the creatures compliant and looping. Carl theorizes the showrunners engineered this system to control the independent monsters' behavior. Katia develops a route using the Dismemberment Limited train to reach the line's end in hours rather than days. At the station, they board the nearly empty maglev train and encounter its operator, Levi the 7th—a grotesque symbiote of a hobgoblin skeleton and troll flesher—who desperately warns them not to board. A quest immediately triggers: protect Levi from Fleshers emerging from the rear cars. Carl and Katia block the connecting door with a heavy metal plate while Donut and Mongo rip away encroaching flesh tendrils. A War Mage named Dismember emerges from the third car, threatening horrific torture and attempting to breach the barrier with spells and physical force. During his monologue, Dismember reveals he seeks seven more 'iterations' to achieve some unknown form. Carl orchestrates a trap using Donut's Hole spell to create an opening, pulls Dismember's head through, and has Donut snap the spell closed, severing the mage's head. The train continues with approximately twelve minutes until the next stop.