Since Carl and Donut were able to overcome the complexity of the 4th floor by creating group chats that helped the crawlers share information, the AI that runs the world dungeon has responded by making some adjustments. The 5th floor is now a myriad of unique instanced zones (bubbles) and no new groups can be formed by the crawlers. The crawlers themselves will be evenly distributed across the bubbles, and since Carl and Donut are two of the highest level crawlers, that means they will be sharing their bubble with a bunch of I-can't-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive n00bs. Each bubble has 4 quadrants within it (air, land, water, and subterranean) and each one has a challenge that must be overcome before the crawlers can move on to another one. Carl and Donut wind up starting in the air quadrant, which is good since cats and water don't mix, but that is just delaying the inevitable for Donut. Before Donut finds herself submerged, they first have to deal with the Dirigible Gnomes, who are using their insanely designed aircraft to bomb the hell out of camel like race that lives beneath them. 

Carl and Donut must do what they can with the randos they wind up being paired up with, and anyone who has played an online game knows that feeling all too well. Carl is also being pushed to the limit of what he is willing to endure from the aliens that run the dungeon, and he starts to plan to fight back against them. In between floors of the dungeon, Carl and Donut are required to make appearances on intergalactic TV shows that interview the popular crawlers, and this becomes Carl's opportunity to pay back the aliens for what is being done to humanity. This glimpse into the bigger picture beyond the dungeon is further bolstered by an epilogue that provides a few scenes from alien points of view, so the story has now evolved beyond just Carl and Donut surviving as long as possible. Leveraging the information hidden in the Dungeon Anarchists Cookbook, Carl initiates his plan to get revenge against the aliens.

I enjoyed this book for sure, but once again I thought the level design was way too complex. The audiobook production remains strong as Jeff Hays continues to do a great job as the voices of both Carl and Donut, with a dose of sound effects support from Soundbooth Theater.