Snake navigates through the small military base located within the mountains on the outskirts of Groznyj Grad and eventually manages to enter one of the structures near the top of the mountain where he meets up with Eva. Since she is half-naked, Snake notices the scars across her body with Eva revealing that they were caused by Volgin as he is a sadist who gets aroused when physically injuring other people, including his lovers. Eva also gives Snake a key meant to let him enter the underground tunnel leading into Groznyj Grad and tells him that Sokolov is being held in the fortress' western wing that can only be accessed by Colonel-class personnel, including one of Volgin's lovers, a young Major named Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov, suggesting Snake to impersonate him in order to gain access to the western wing of Groznyj Grad due to their similar physique, noting that he will have to figure out how to make his face look like Raikov's, also revealing that their extraction plan involves flying out of the area using WIG aircraft parked at the lake 30 miles from their current position. Eva also questions Snake's connection to The Boss and tries to seduce him, her attempt ending up derailed as both hear loud banging coming from below the mountain. As they exit onto the summit overlooking Groznyj Grad itself, Eva heads back to the base in order to play her "other role" at Volgin's side while Snake stays at the summit to observe the base. Meanwhile, Volgin is torturing Granin due to his possible association with the unknown spy who has infiltrated Groznyj Grad, having trapped him within the oil drum which he punches with his electrically-charged fists with this ultimately killing the man. After Ocelot, who was observing the proceedings, voices his distaste for Volgin's methods, mentioning his callous destruction of Sokolov's research facility a week prior, Volgin opens a compartment on Granin's shoe, revealing that it contained a transmitter meant to let someone track his position. However, since it is uncertain whether he himself was a spy or someone had planted it onto him, Volgin justifies his methods by stating that Cold War is being fought almost exclusively through spies and that batch of their C3 explosive has been stolen, meaning that any and all potential threats must be eliminated as they already have a spy in their midst before mockingly challenging Ocelot to report him if he dislikes his methods. As they argue, The Boss arrives, revealing that both The Fear and The End have been killed in combat, carrying The Fear's crossbow as a proof. Enraged, Volgin questions how Cobra Unit failed to kill a single man as Boss reveals even worse news, telling Volgin that in addition to killing her, Americans also intend to destroy the Shagohod and steal the Philosophers' Legacy from Volgin, urging him to increase the security in the mountains to prevent Snake from entering Groznyj Grad. Just then, Sokolov's lover, Tatyana enters as well with Ocelot noticing the familiar "perfume" on her person and a scruff on one of her boots. With his suspicions that she is a spy confirmed, he uses The Fear's crossbow discarded by The Boss to threaten the woman, simply telling her to "polish her boots properly". Meanwhile, Snake heads towards the tunnel. While navigating it, he encounters The Fury, Cobra Unit member wielding a flamethrower who went insane after suffering severe burns during an accident that has occurred when he was sent to space. In the ensuing fight within the tunnel, Snake manages to mortally wound The Fury who uses the last of his strength to lament the fact that all Cobras except for The Boss herself have been eliminated before using his jetpack to crash through the tunnel's ceiling with his explosive detonating immediately afterwards, collapsing the tunnel and forcing Snake to run for his life, managing to narrowly escape onto the other side and finally breach Groznyj Grad itself...