Chapter 24

Carl and Donut appear on a commercial for Veriluxx toys in an underwater submarine trailer while robot Donut is being prepped. During the taping, Carl deliberately provokes the hosts and makes accusations about the parent company's involvement in slavery, causing a distraction that allows robot Donut to detonate explosives hidden in her body. The explosion severely injures the dungeon admin Loita, forcing administrators to choose between saving her or the submarine; she dies from her injuries as rescue ships approach.

Carl rushes to finish infusing potions in the pub before transport. While experimenting with mixing an invisibility potion into a smoke curtain, he accidentally activates his new creation—a "Hobgoblin Disco Ball" that fills the room with psychedelic, blinding smoke. He gains an Infusion skill level. After cleaning up, Carl, Donut, and robot Donut are transported to an underwater submarine production trailer controlled by the kua-tin admin Loita. During pre-show preparation, Loita reveals her deep hatred for human culture and mentions that unspecified "unspeakable things" were done to Zev's family to bring her into compliance with the Bloom's ideology. Carl and Donut proceed to the studio where two tall alien soothers—Gravo and Liddi—host a toy commercial featuring robot versions of Mongo and Donut. During filming, Carl deliberately goes off-script and accuses Veriluxx's parent company Veritan Linkage of hiding trackers in toys and advocating slavery. This provocation causes Gravo to order a stop to filming. Suddenly, the submarine experiences explosions and system failures. Robot Donut has detonated, destroying the green room and severely injuring Loita, who loses her left arm and both lower legs. A forcefield prevents the submarine from fully breaching, trapping Carl and Donut. Loita dies from her injuries while rescue ships approach. Carl's actions were intentional, using information from earlier notes about self-destruct mechanisms to engineer this outcome.