Chapter 54

Carl examines his loot boxes from recent battles and discovers a mysterious benefactor box containing a flyer for a homeless shelter in Homestead, Florida opening at 7 AM. He learns from Zev that his entire sponsor organization has vanished after sending the box, and decides to investigate despite warnings.

Carl retreats to his bare room and personalizes it with a fern plant, crayon drawing, and arcade cabinet before opening his loot. The adventurer boxes yield trench-building scrolls and invisibility potions; a Size-Up potion appears for the first time. The Gold Gobble box contains a turkey deep fryer with oil and Facebook recipe printouts. The Gold Talk of the Town box holds an Upgrade Patch depicting a burning book that grants +15% Intelligence and the Book Burner ability (allowing him to make opponents forget spells once daily). The wand box produces a Wand of Nighty-Night with sleep effects. The hydra boss box yields 25,000 gold and a Warrior's Gold Helmet he cannot use. The Platinum box gives him a Minor Find Crawler Skill potion at Level Five. The benefactor box reveals only a flyer for the Shepherd's House, a homeless shelter in Homestead, Florida, with Christmas breakfast at 7 AM and a circled note saying "No pets allowed." Louis confirms Homestead is forty minutes north of Carl's current location. Carl suspects the benefactor organization arranged the Miami location deliberately, and when he questions Zev before leaving, learns that his entire sponsor organization and Rosetta have mysteriously disappeared after sending the box days earlier. Zev cryptically mentions a failsafe and galactic quarantine. Carl decides to investigate the shelter and departs on his father's motorcycle, which starts immediately with a full gas tank.