Chapter 19

Carl explores the Nightmare Express switching station and discovers the vast Abyss—a massive pit where thousands of crashed train cars are dumped by portals, revealing that the trains are cycled through but only the engine cars are returned. He investigates portals and learns that equipped keys (including the conductor hat) allow passage through the portal system, then shares this critical information with other players via chat. Upon returning to base, Donut shows off her new Unique item sunglasses from Princess D'Nadia and her new Love Vampire ability, while Carl receives a powerful boss-damage toothpaste item. Carl learns that trains are being deliberately sabotaged by another player (Quan Ch), stranding other adventurers, and reflects on York's philosophical passage about the responsibility to protect one's hive.

Carl enters a massive switching station cavern filled with multiple train tracks and switches. He observes another steam locomotive passing through, its caboose displaying impaled human heads. Upon reaching Station 436 (Abyss Station), Carl climbs a long, steep stairwell for an hour amid sounds of crashing trains, eventually reaching a circular iron catwalk overlooking an immense, flaming pit roughly a mile across and thousands of feet deep. The pit contains hundreds of crashed train cars being picked through by jikininki janitor ghouls, with thousands of glowing portals lining the pit's interior. Carl witnesses trains being ejected from portals and realizes the operation: the portal system ejects entire trains into the pit as garbage, keeping only the engine cars. By analyzing the portals, Carl discovers that three items function as keys to pass through: the Ochre Key, the Steam Train Key, and the conductor hat—the silly souvenir item given at the floor's start. Carl broadcasts this discovery to other players via chat, explaining multiple possible routes to access earlier stations, including riding through the portal (which teleports the passenger to a zombie-filled trainyard) or gaining control of an engineer's train. He also mentions the possibility of reaching headquarters through a station 435 portal and a mysterious hidden backward-moving train. Carl returns to the Nightmare Express and travels back to Station 283, where Donut and Katia greet him. Donut displays her new Unique item—enchanted sunglasses called "The Princess Donut" gifted by Princess D'Nadia, which enhance dark vision, allow heat vision, and focus her Magic Missile spells into lasers. Donut has also leveled to 30 and gained the Love Vampire ability, which allows her to transfer incoming damage to an enemy once every couple of hours. Carl receives a Scroll of Upgrade (+3 dexterity to his shirt) and a powerful toothpaste granting triple or quadruple damage against bosses for 30 hours. In the safe room—a food court—Carl learns from chat messages that another player, Quan Ch, is deliberately destroying trains and stranding adventurers across multiple lines. Elle and Imani are forced to backtrack and navigate dangerous overland routes. Carl reflects on a philosophical passage from the Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook's final author, York, about the bonds between isolated dungeon crawlers and the moral imperative to protect others, leaving Carl conflicted about whether he can do more to help those now stranded on the tracks.