All two hundred crawlers for the Pineapple Cabaret transfer along with several more of their friends were gathered together in the main square in Hungry Eyes. There were too many of them to fit in the guild common room, so we’d have a quick goodbye there. And then we had to do our race. This was where we were headed now.

I stopped in the garage to give a quick word to Bucket Boy, who sat sullenly in the corner, watching Hedy work on the last-minute fixes. Pontiff the bullheaded Taurin was here, talking quietly with him. Rosetta and Tipid had hired the former stripper, and he’d be our driver for the next race.

“Believe me, kid,” Pontiff was saying. “I would take it all back if I could. But I can’t, so all I can do is make amends moving forward.”

“I don’t even care anymore,” the young Crocodilian said. “Everyone dies in this place.”

“Dong and Corcunda are dead, yes. But the others live.”

Pontiff finally noticed me watching. He abruptly stopped talking. “Carl,” he said, nodding.

I regarded the mercenary. “We’ll be back,” I finally said, leaving them alone.

Donut remained on my shoulder, her head pressed firmly against mine as we walked outside.

“His whole family is dead or missing,” Donut finally said. “I can’t even begin to imagine how awful that must be.”

“I know.”

We continued in silence for a few moments, heading toward the archway into Hungry Eyes Village.

“Carl, is this truly the only way?” she asked softly.

“I think so,” I said, reaching up to pat her. “We’re all dying, Donut. It has to stop. All of these floors are taking away our ability to fight back. I can’t do it anymore. Aren’t you tired of it?”

“Of course I’m tired, but I am alive, and I’m with you.”

“This is what we need to do to survive. What I need to do. The Emberus quest to kill Hellik is due.”

“But Mordecai says even if we do succeed, it might backfire. He said it’s just like that one crawler from a long time ago. What was his name?”

“Drakea.”

“Yeah, that guy. He had this whole setup to do the same thing as you, and the Nagas cheated to make it backfire. Nothing changed, and he died. It was all for nothing.”

“That might happen, yes. But this time the showrunners aren’t in control anymore. As crazy as the AI is, he’s still following the rules.”

“You could just worship the goddess. She’s promised to fix it if you do.”

I didn’t answer.

Eris didn’t want me to “worship” her. She wanted true devotion. That path was a trap.

But she did have the right idea.

Jasha and Radoslav remained in their usual spot in front of their garage. They did not wave, and I did not wave back. We all knew what had to happen next.

I felt a chill, looking at them. I had been afraid that the dungeon wouldn’t allow me to use my Oozy Form spell in the cul-de-sac, but it had let me. I almost wished it hadn’t.

Fuck everything about this place.

“And we still need to get through this floor first,” I added.

We were interrupted by messages.

Florin: We decided to let the animal forms, go as Mordecai believes it’ll be fine. I ain’t going nowhere, but Bautista asked Louis and Britney if they would consent to him leaving, and they said yes. So is Tran with his mechanical spider legs. Zhang is going, too. Archie is going. All the guys from the 101st who wanted to go and who qualify are going as long as it’s the whole crew. We’re doing our best to keep from screwing people who are staying.

I gave a quick glance at Osvaldo’s garage with the number “2.” It remained closed. He couldn’t go to the Cabaret because he worshipped a god. Hopefully he would take a deal at the end of this next race so we wouldn’t have to face him, but he hadn’t let his intentions be known despite me sending him several messages.

One race at a time.

As for Dwight and team Free Love, I wasn’t sure how we were going to deal with that. With Lucienne dead, Dwight couldn’t drive for heat six, and I had no idea if the idiot unicorn had the wherewithal to hire a mercenary. This one might be predetermined before we even started. If Dwight didn’t hire a mercenary, they’d let him drive to the starting line, but he wouldn’t be allowed to drive after that. That was the best solution, but it also meant we’d have to face team Free Love and Osvaldo for the final race.

Entering Hungry Eyes Village.

The large group stood around in the main entrance square, all looking about nervously. People were quietly talking, hugging one another, preparing to leave. There had to be five hundred people here. Only two hundred were leaving. It did not have a party atmosphere. This felt more like a gathering after a funeral service.

The boom box from the guild was out here, and it was sitting open with a cassette sitting inside, but it wasn’t playing.

Still, there were people occasionally smiling, laughing.

I remembered that feeling I’d had just a few short days ago at the end of Faction Wars, with the people throwing the flowers down on us, cheering. These people here were those who had dared to stay, dared to fight on, doing our best to just make it one more day.

Nobody knew if this was truly goodbye. Nobody knew which side, those going or those staying, was the one in more danger.

Someone had set up a table, and Louis was handing out cookies. Bautista stood next to him with several clay teapots in a row.

Linus was there pouring tea into the cup of a waiting crawler named Karac, a level 62 Armchair Pacificist known for some particularly brutal chainsaw kills.

“Carl,” Bautista said, bowing, “I think this is goodbye. For now.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked, lowering my voice. “You know the risk, right?”

Bautista gave me a sly smile.

“Compared to what? Staying with you? I will take my chances.” He paused. “Perhaps we will get out. I was speaking with a group of others who wish to get to India. If I can, I will go with them.”

Louis had cookie all over his face, and he grinned big. “Yeah, you can go check up on my kid.”

From my shoulder, Donut sucked in a breath.

Carl: That was probably the wrong thing to say.

Louis: My bad.

Bautista just looked at Louis for a long, awkward moment before the tiger broke out in a grin. He gave Louis a heavy pat on the arm. He nodded. “Yes, my brother. Before I go check on the child you’re having with my girlfriend.”

Imani was suddenly next to us. She and Chris stood side by side, and she leaned up against him, despite the heat. Her skin crackled red, and I realized she either had a skill or a charm or an item that was protecting her from his presence. That was new. He had his massive hand on her shoulder.

“I am going to miss your tea,” Imani said.

“It’s good,” Chris added.

Prepotente was also suddenly here, as was Florin. Tran and Zhang also approached.

“Generals,” I said to Tran and Zhang.

Zhang scoffed. “You only made me ‘Colonel.’”

I grinned. “Be safe.”

I turned to Tran and grinned. “I see you’re wearing a red shirt now.”

The man with the mechanical spider legs held out his arms. “How do you like it?”

Donut jumped to Zhang’s shoulder and headbutted him. She repeated the process with Tran.

Prepotente appeared and got tea from Linus. He started loudly and obnoxiously announcing how delicious it was. He demanded Linus give him a blow-by-blow on the recipe.

Daniel bowed again. “It has been a pleasure serving you, Miss Imani and Chris.” He paused. “And the rest of you as well. My family, we always thought that serving friends was a very special, holy thing. By honoring our friends and our community, we were honoring God. I used to worry that I wouldn’t find my home when this was all done, but I have found peace, despite all that has happened, despite some of the regrettable choices I have made. It will be my honor to serve you at least one more time, and no matter what comes after today, I know I will be recognized on the other side.”

“Let me get you all cups,” Linus said, disengaging himself from Prepotente. “Imani and Louis, I know you both like it really hot, so I have this one ready for you.”

“You’re being particularly nice,” Elle said, flying up, peering suspiciously at Linus. “Why are you being all normal all of a sudden? Did you poison their tea because you’re jealous or something?”

Linus gave a nervous laugh.

Bautista held up a hand. “I will serve my friends.” He picked up a kettle he had set aside and poured tea into several cups. He lowered his voice. “This is my breakfast blend. The same tea I served in the guild. But it is infused with the tea leaves I found from a vendor around the corner. It will give your vehicle or mount a 25% constitution buff. It would honor me if you shared it with me. I prepared this one myself.”

“You have enough for everybody?” Imani asked.

He nodded. “I made enough. The Bautista House of Tea will always serve. I have a different blend for those going to the Pineapple Cabaret. It grants a constitution buff. I’ll put that out in a minute. But for now, please allow me to serve you.”

He pulled some cups from his inventory and poured the breakfast tea, handing it to us in turn.

I grabbed the cup. The tea smelled rich and warm with a slight floral scent. It briefly reminded me of a different time, of all of us sitting around the table in the guildhall, sharing breakfast before we left to battle for the day.

Unlike before, the system labeled it as a potion, meaning those of us with longer potion countdowns had to be careful. I didn’t bother saying anything, however. We were all veterans at this point, and we knew what we were doing.

It would be offensive at this point to assume anything otherwise.