Victor

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	David Victor
Alias(es)	Victor; Devil Victor; Detective King; Lady Lathia Molian
Species/Race	Immortal anomaly
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Armadillo Hunters; Snow Mastiff Unit
Occupation/Role	Author; Senior Passenger; trainer; investigator; Armadillo Hunter
First Appearance	Chapter 46

Background

Victor fought the cannibalistic Perfume Bottle gang alongside Wen Bucai and Jack Martin in 1840. After Wen seemingly died on the railway tracks, Victor and Jack drank Wen's blood; this event made Victor immortal. Victor never recovered Wen's body and endured the loss of his friends across the following centuries. 63

He is over two hundred years old and had already awakened Soul Power and completed a “wild” Metamorphosis before joining the underground railway. Unlike passengers who follow BOSS's organized path, Victor's Flash Butterfly was awakened through primal fear. 95 99

As an Armadillo Hunter, Victor collects passenger logs and turns lived experiences into stories. His demand for material is not merely professional: he regards other people's memories, fears, transformations, and crimes as subjects he must understand firsthand. 48 216 523

He wrote Jack Martin into one of his stories, leaving Jack unaware of his true past for more than 160 years. Victor's letter eventually awakens Jack and directs him to protect Jiang Xueming and Bu Liuxing in London. 135

Appearance

Victor is a tall, thin man over 1.8 meters in height, with an austere presence that unsettles other passengers. His gaunt features and severe expression contrast with the dreamlike, faintly green impression he gives off. 46

• Wild golden curls, often disheveled after travel. 46 191
• Deep-set emerald or dark-green eyes. 46 216
• High-bridged nose, broad forehead, angular brow bones, and full lips. 46
• Slightly gaunt cheekbones and chin; described as looking malnourished or anorexic. 46 49
• Broad metacarpals and rough knuckles. 46
• Often carries a fountain pen or steel pen, treating it as both writing tool and weapon. 46 216

Personality

Victor is intensely curious, especially about experiences beyond his own. When Clark Sean begins transforming into a beast, Victor's first response is to document the sensation, ask how the world looks through Clark's eyes, and examine the transformation as closely as possible—even while standing inside enemy territory. 523

His manner is eccentric, aloof, and frequently provocative. He turns physical and mental trials into “knightly duels,” teaches through high-pressure situations, and can become so absorbed in a story that he neglects ordinary social expectations. 47 49 62

Despite his coldness, Victor is protective of his students and has clear ethical reservations about his own power. He refuses to casually rewrite minds or hypnotize souls, provides prisoners with basic care before sentencing, and rejects using his fame to exploit readers financially. 191 216 830 838

Abilities & Skills

Soul Power: *Highway To Hell* / *Hell Highway*

Attribute	Recorded value
Destructive Power	D in one recorded profile; E in a later profile 135 827
Speed	C 135 827
Range	C 135 827
Durability	A 135 827
Precision	A 135 827
Growth Potential	A 135 827

Victor's Soul Power manifests as a golden-red, red-skinned devil with a flaming, heart-shaped tail. Its spiritual pressure is conspicuous enough that experienced opponents can immediately recognize when Hell Highway is active. 323 525

• Compulsory reading — Writing made with stationery can trap any living observer's mind in the text until they completely read and understand it. Noise, light, and violent external force cannot interrupt the effect; Victor must deactivate it with a safe word. 135 827
• Narrative commands — If Victor writes understandable, logically coherent text directly on a living being, the target must fulfill the written content regardless of the cost. 135 827
• Shared experience — When he uses narrative commands, Victor is also affected by the target's senses, instincts, memories, current perceptions, and possible future premonitions. 827
• Memory extraction — Victor can pull a target's life story or memories from their skull and record them in his logbook. 191 323
• Soul reading — He can read souls, but fears abusing this ability to invade or rewrite another person's life. 216 837
• Binding clauses — His written decrees can impose immediate rules such as “[Thou shalt not harm],” “[No cursing],” or commands compelling rescue. 190 191 830
• Limitations — The ability depends on writing instruments and text the target can understand. When transformed into a doll, Victor cannot project his Soul Power from his body and must physically write short commands instead. 827 840

Immortality and Metamorphosis

Victor became immortal after drinking Wen Bucai's blood following their battle with the Perfume Bottle gang. 63

• He has lived for more than two centuries. 95
• His Metamorphosis predates his railway career and was achieved through fear rather than BOSS's standard passenger system. 99
• He can recover from severe injury with White Lady products and Panacea, though he remains physically vulnerable when deprived of supplies or overwhelmed in close combat. 46 190 276 490

Combat and Fieldcraft

Victor is not primarily a hand-to-hand fighter; he relies on Hell Highway, firearms, planning, and the manipulation of an opponent's story. 190 490

• Can kill powerful targets through direct Soul Power assaults, as seen when he kills Cliff Gudrian and breaks the King of Fire's control over himself. 190
• Uses written contracts to restrain, interrogate, and transport prisoners. 191 230
• Can carry more than twenty kilograms of passenger logs one-handed while dancing through moving train carriages. 49
• Applies music and dance to regulate his body and teach passengers how to continue their Metamorphosis. 49
• Retains his composure and ability to investigate while transformed by hostile Soul Power, including during his temporary transformation into a red fox. 523 525

Equipment

• Steel pen / fountain pens — His principal writing tools and the medium through which Hell Highway operates; one steel pen is described as a staff gifted by BOSS. 46 216
• Passenger logbook — Used to preserve collected stories, extracted memories, field notes, and written Soul Power effects. 216 323
• Passenger-log carriers — Bundles large collections of logs with draft paper, Velcro, and zip ties for transport. 49
• Firearms — Carries and operates a pistol during field missions. 190
• Panacea and elixirs — Keeps medical supplies in his travel bag and distributes them to allies when needed. 190 191
• White Lady products — Uses the coffee and related products for recovery and emergency treatment. 46 171

Relationships

• Jiang Xueming — Victor's student and one of the passengers he trains through duels, pressure tests, travel instruction, and survival advice. Victor follows Jiang's development closely and openly takes pride in his growth. 48 49 63 627
• Bu Liuxing — Victor's student and devoted reader. Their first “knightly duel” tests Bu Liuxing's ability to resist Victor's manuscript; Bu later regards Victor as a teacher and seeks to grow under him. 46 47 63
• Wen Bucai / Vincent — Victor's oldest known companion. They fought together in 1840, were separated by Wen's presumed death, later reunite, and continue their combative but affectionate friendship. 63 95 97
• Jack Martin — Victor's former comrade and later admirer. Victor's letter restores Jack's lost identity and gives him a mission to protect Victor's apprentices. 63 135 825
• BOSS — Victor works closely with BOSS as a Senior Passenger, investigator, and storyteller. BOSS gifted him his steel pen and shows concern for his survival despite their frequent arguments. 46 221 230
• Bloodhound — Victor's attendant and close companion. They travel together, and Victor later shares his memories and affection with her. 95 198 848
• Clark Sean — Victor guides Clark through the Human Museum and helps him survive his Soul Power-induced transformation, eventually using the transformed Clark as a warhorse during their escape. 522 523 525 533
• Puxi — A reader who attempts to force Victor to rewrite a story's ending. Their conflict becomes a contest between Puxi's hallucinogens and Victor's storytelling-based Soul Power. 276
• Selena Krana / Violet Heinz — Violet saves Victor from Butler Yao; later, as Selena, she helps him escape and continues to support him. 830 848

Story Role / Major Arcs

Knightly Tournament

Victor first meets Bu Liuxing aboard the train as the author of the manuscript A Xing cannot stop reading. He turns the encounter into a mental duel, using the manuscript's compulsive pull to test A Xing's self-control and expose his own identity as an Armadillo Hunter. 46 47

He subsequently trains Jiang Xueming and Bu Liuxing through controlled spiritual pressure, passenger-log transport, music, dance, and practical advice about Metamorphosis and survival. 48 49 50

Dead Doll and the Apprenticeship

Victor shares the history of his immortality with Jiang and Bu, allowing them to witness his past with Wen Bucai and Jack Martin. He then gives the two apprentices advice on earning money, surviving the underground world, and facing its moral dangers. 62 63

Freud Mine and Niflheim

Victor reunites with Wen Bucai during the conflict with the Skull and Bones Society, assists his old friend in pursuing vengeance, and later loses a gun duel against him at the Dionysus Festival. 95 97

At Albert Research Station, Victor kills the Heaven's Ladder operative Cliff Gudrian, rescues 9527, captures the King of Fire, and writes extensive restraints across Maddes Bruno's body before escorting him to a trade station. 190 191

Tribunal and Harvest Season

Victor participates in BOSS's criminal interrogations, using his knowledge of Soul Power and coercive questioning to extract information from prisoners connected to the Little Brotherhood. 230 231

During the harvest season ritual, he volunteers to replace an eliminated offering because he wants firsthand material for his writing. 221

Human Museum

As Detective King, Victor accepts the challenge of entering Cruise Ship No. 4's Human Museum. He identifies a Soul Power attack on Clark Sean, is transformed into a red fox himself, and turns the hostile transformation into an opportunity for investigation and escape. 522 523 533

Curiosity Museum

Victor's sympathy for the abused inhabitants of the Human Zoo brings him into conflict with Butler Yao and Jim Crow's forces. Although physically outmatched, he refuses to use Hell Highway to simply rewrite people's thoughts, instead protecting Violet and drawing the animals to his aid. 830

After escaping the burning town of Sloth with Wen Bucai and Jack Martin, Victor commits to helping them confront Jack's other half, the Big Leader. 837

Notable Quotes

“Because I want to.” 62

“The only thing we can grasp is reality.” 522

“People can like a story, they can spend money to buy books, but they shouldn't extend that affection to the author and empty their wallets for the person who wrote the story – that's a form of fraud.” 838

Trivia

• Highway To Hell is named after the AC/DC song, while Make Your Legends is named after Ronnie Savage's piano piece Make Your Own Legends. 827
• Victor's readers can become dangerously obsessive; one admirer offers him a mine, a house, and asks to touch or lick him after seeing him dance. 49
• He temporarily transforms into a red fox after a Soul Power attack in the Human Museum, yet continues recording observations in his logbook. 523
• Victor's score in a disabled dance competition is disqualified, after which he and Bloodhound experiment with gender-bending. 815