Chapter 38

Carl, Katia, and Samantha escape the Desperado Club after Minge's death, but before leaving, Damascus Steel—revealed to be the son of the deceased Astrid and the Night Wyrm—pleads with Carl to hire the male dancers from the Penis Parade as mercenaries to save them from reassignment to worse levels. Carl agrees and hires them using a Meat Shields coupon, while Damascus and his brother Anaconda depart for unstated purposes. The club is evacuated as a system warning forces all remaining occupants to leave.

After Minge is killed by vorpals in the lower level of the Desperado Club, Damascus Steel confronts Carl and Katia with an urgent request. Damascus reveals that Astrid, the club's assistant manager, was his mother and that she and the Night Wyrm (his father) were former crawlers turned NPCs, along with his brother Anaconda. He explains that with his mother dead due to the Night Wyrm's conspiracy, the club will be restructured and all the dancers—whom Astrid had protected—will be reassigned to worse conditions on the Larracos level. Damascus asks Carl to hire the entire male dancer crew from the Penis Parade as mercenaries for a two-floor contract worth 100,000 gold. Carl agrees, and Rosemarie, an elderly dwarf who manages a Meat Shields office from her home in the club, processes the transaction. Damascus and Anaconda then walk toward the back of the club without explanation. A system warning announces the club's temporary closure with a fifteen-minute evacuation timer. Carl, Katia, and Samantha wait briefly to ensure safety before exiting. Carl develops a theory that Damascus, Anaconda, Astrid, and the Night Wyrm are former human crawlers who were indentured into the dungeon system as NPCs and used their positions to protect family members and allies. The hired male dancers are transferred to the guild's barracks, where Donut excitedly receives them and reports on new totem card acquisitions and Faction Wars voting. As they leave the club, Carl notes that several Faction Wars participants remain trapped on the flooded lower level.