What Guardians are
Guardians guard nests. The official advice is to get home before they catch you. Farther seas are described as having bigger Guardians. Volcano Area 9 has a named one: Volcano Kong.
Patrol paths, wake-up rules, and catch penalties are not printed in the listing. Use the practical rule from the heist itself: distance is the resource, and you spend it by lingering.
Escape habits that match the loop
- Start the return while you still have open water between you and the Guardian. Speed only helps if you turn early.
- Use the route you already swam, even if a shorter line looks tempting after the pickup.
- Drop the idea of a second egg as soon as the gap shrinks.
- If the Guardian is already on you before the pickup, skip that nest and reset the approach.
- After several failed returns in the same water, go back to the Aqua Treadmill instead of retrying the same chase.
Volcano Kong
Volcano Kong is the Guardian named for Area 9, in a lava-red sea. Lava is a second way to lose the trip even if the Guardian is still behind you. Enter with one fiery egg in mind, take it, and leave. Do not tour the volcano after the pickup.
Other players
A Guardian is not the only thing that can take the egg you wanted. Six people share the server, and the game tells you to compete for valuable eggs. If the nest is contested, a clean ordinary egg on a quiet route is often the better hatch.