Chapter 10

Carl and Donut encounter three new crawlers—Paz Lo, Anton Lopez, and Sister Ines Quiteria—in a tense initial meeting. Anton's hostility stems from Donut's past boastful remarks about cat girls that were broadcast on a dungeon program, but Sister Ines de-escalates the situation. The groups ultimately agree to work together to capture monk seals on the beach as their first squad members.

Carl and Donut approach three newcomers who have arrived at the seventh floor. The group consists of two Hispanic men and a cat girl nun. The first man, Paz Lo (Level 45 Santero), wears heavy silver plate armor and worships Ogun. The second, Anton Lopez (Level 47 Fugitive), is heavily tattooed with prison markings, carries a crossbow, and also worships Ogun. The third is Sister Ines Quiteria (Level 47 Poet Laureate), a Havana brown cat girl and a Discalced Carmelite nun. Donut is immediately hostile toward Sister Ines because of her feline race, claiming Havana browns are untrustworthy. The tension escalates when Anton becomes aggressively protective, initially ready to fight. Through chat investigation, Carl learns the three crawlers are afraid of Donut because of past remarks she made boastfully to strippers about what she would do to cat girls—comments that were broadcast on a dungeon program. Sister Ines intervenes and calms Anton, revealing herself as the true leader of the group. Carl contacts allies for information and learns from Tserendolgor that the three are mostly lone crawlers who had a rough time on the sixth floor, and that Anton is skilled with his crossbow and had previously killed two members of his own group who tried to murder the nun. After tensions ease, the groups agree to cooperate, and Sister Ines proposes they help each other capture monk seals from the beach as their first squad members.