Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Evan finishes dressing for his new role. Garp approves of his build and begins training him to inspect the Hurst family carriage, explaining how to check tamper-evident seals and warning him not to touch a Healing Church artifact embedded in the wall.
• Left alone, Evan uses his Demon Hunter Sight to examine the brass incense burner. Its divine energy is so intense that it burns his eyes, temporarily blinding him.
• The Panel detects a curse called Benevolent Copperization, which threatens to turn Evan into a copper statue within an hour and erase his self-awareness.
• The curse begins stiffening his thoughts and turning his fingertips into cold copper. Evan instinctively calls on the dormant Copper Plague within him.
• Copper Plague awakens and devours the curse, reversing the copperization while steadily gaining progress toward activating a Characteristic.

Character development

• Evan shows both caution and impulsiveness: he plans to report to Hill for safety, but curiosity leads him to inspect the artifact despite Garp’s warning. His regenerative ability quickly heals his burned eyes, and his quick thinking helps him call on Copper Plague.
• Garp becomes more impressed with Evan and sees him as a promising bodyguard who could help protect Miss Eldin and reduce his own workload.

Character interactions

• Garp assesses Evan’s physique, then instructs him in carriage security and warns him about the artifact.
• Evan obeys outwardly but investigates the artifact once Garp leaves.
• Evan’s most consequential interaction is with the force inside him: Copper Plague responds to his call and consumes the curse.

Significant themes

• Curiosity versus caution: Evan ignores a clear warning and pays for it.
• Danger behind respectable authority: The Church’s supposedly protective artifact carries a potentially fatal curse.
• Power emerging from danger: The curse becomes an opportunity for Copper Plague to awaken and grow.

Plot points and events

• After enduring the pain of scanning a curse-bearing Healing Church artifact, Evan tells Garp that his tears are gratitude toward the Church. Garp accepts the explanation and praises his gratitude.
• Garp explains that Phoenix Brotherhood members used their connections to enter the station early, but he sent them away. Evan volunteers to keep them out of the carriage corridor, and Garp agrees to pay him an extra dollar.
• As Evan patrols, he notices that every compartment has a brass Incense Burner carrying a curse that inflicts Benevolent Copperization on unauthorized observers. He infers that the Church is secretly protecting the Hurst family, and that powerful Magic Artifacts can evade Demon Hunter Sight.
• Eldin enters with fellow students and their attendants. Evan avoids meeting her eyes, observing the social rules of his position.
• Botis Alcott arrives with a large entourage and tries to enter the Hurst Carriage. Evan blocks him and deliberately provokes the group. When Dennis swings at Evan, Evan redirects the blow so Dennis slaps Alcott.
• Alcott suppresses his anger and leads his entourage away. Evan senses Alcott’s emotional influence briefly weaken his desire to resist, but the effect quickly passes. He concludes that Alcott is inexperienced: he can influence others’ emotions better than he can control his own.

Character developments and interactions

• Evan maintains a convincing, devout facade with Garp while privately pursuing his own aims. He shows restraint by postponing further artifact scans until he has digested the curses he has already absorbed. His calculated provocation of Alcott demonstrates his growing confidence and tactical ability.
• Garp trusts Evan enough to give him responsibility and an extra dollar, though he does not know Evan’s true motives.
• Alcott appears charming and socially assured, but his effort to master his anger reveals a weakness. He quietly withdraws rather than escalate the incident.
• Dennis acts as Alcott’s aggressive subordinate, but his attempted attack humiliates his leader instead. Alcott’s entourage leaves with threats and resentment.
• Evan and Eldin pass without acknowledging one another, reflecting the strict social boundaries surrounding the Hurst family.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: Evan’s sincere-looking piety conceals calculated self-interest, while Alcott’s polished charm masks poor emotional control.
• Power and its limits: Artifacts can protect the Hurst family and hide from Evan’s supernatural sight, while Alcott’s ability to affect others does not give him mastery over himself.
• Class and social hierarchy: Evan weaponizes his role as a doorman to challenge nobles, but his conduct also exposes how sharply the world’s status rules shape interactions.
• Restraint and risk: Evan wants to absorb more curses but recognizes the danger of exceeding what the Copper Plague can handle.

Key plot points and events

• Evan analyzes his earlier confrontation with Alcott, concluding that Alcott is physically weak but can quietly suppress a target’s instinct to resist. Evan identifies tells and limits to the ability and decides Alcott would be most dangerous at close range.
• While guarding Hurst’s carriage, Evan turns away a stream of visitors and enjoys his newfound role as an intimidating noble-family “attack dog.”
• Copper Plague finishes consuming the incense burner’s residue, raising its progress by five percentage points, to 5.371%.
• A disguised family of four Ghouls approaches. The adult man claims his daughter admires Miss Hurst, but when Evan refuses entry, he grabs Evan and injects him with corpse poison, rotting fungus, and bone-marrow parasites.
• Copper Plague immediately devours all three infections, gaining another 4.7% progress. Evan recognizes the attackers as Ghouls from the old hunter’s memories and turns the man’s attack against him, pinning his clawed hand to the carriage railing.

Character developments

• Evan grows more perceptive and tactical: he studies Alcott’s power, recognizes the Ghouls, and responds decisively to their attack. He also discovers Copper Plague can consume several kinds of infection, increasing its progress.
• Alcott is revealed as restrained but dangerous: his physical weakness contrasts with his subtle ability to manipulate resistance.
• The Ghoul leader initially presents himself as a courteous father, then abruptly reveals his strength, claws, and hostile intent.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: Alcott’s weakness conceals a disturbing power, while the seemingly ordinary family is not human.
• Observation and preparation: Evan’s habit of studying abilities and recognizing threats gives him an advantage.
• Power and corruption: Evan finds pleasure in throwing his weight around while guarding the carriage.
• Unexpected resilience: Copper Plague turns a potentially disabling attack into a source of growth.

Character interactions

• Evan mentally assesses Alcott after their encounter, then keeps would-be visitors away from Hurst’s carriage.
• The Ghoul leader uses his daughter’s apparent admiration for Miss Hurst as a pretext to approach Evan, then attacks when refused.
• Evan counters the attack by controlling the Ghoul’s wrist and confronting him directly on the carriage platform, openly identifying him as a Ghoul.

Key plot points and events

• Evan reveals the golden, vertical pupils that identify him as a Demon Hunter. When the Ghoul man tries to pull away, Evan’s strength pins him, while his blood corrodes the Ghoul’s claws and fingers.
• The Ghoul escapes by snapping off his own hand. Evan removes the severed claw from his wrist; his puncture wounds rapidly heal.
• The Ghoul explains that his family runs a funeral company and is trying to protect its largest cemetery from factory owners who want the land. Unable to reach the influential Hurst family directly, they hoped to persuade Miss Hurst to carry their request.
• Evan agrees not only to pass along the message but to advocate for the Ghouls in exchange for a share of the company. The Ghoul offers him five percent, along with future cooperation handling bodies.
• As Evan prepares to speak to Miss Hurst, the Ghoul asks for his severed hand back. Evan instead eats the claw, astonishing the family, and remarks that it tastes bitter and sour.

Character developments and interactions

• Evan demonstrates formidable strength, unusual healing, and blood that harms Ghouls. He shifts quickly from intimidating opponent to calculating negotiator, using the family’s need for help to secure a business stake. His casual decision to eat the claw makes his unsettling nature unmistakable.
• The Ghoul man begins defensively, then adopts a polite, conciliatory manner once he recognizes Evan’s power. He explains his family’s predicament and negotiates a deal rather than continuing the fight.
• The Ghoul woman supports her husband’s appeal, emphasizing their lack of hostile intent and the danger the Church-built carriage poses to them.
• The boy is terrified by the violence and Evan’s appearance, hiding against his mother and apparently wetting himself. The little girl remains shielded behind her father.

Significant themes

• Power and bargaining: Evan’s physical advantage turns a confrontation into a negotiation, and the Ghouls’ need for political backing gives him leverage.
• Humanity and monstrosity: The Ghouls behave like a vulnerable family seeking help, while Evan’s grin, strange blood, and appetite for a severed claw make the supposed protector seem monstrous.
• Pragmatism and self-interest: Evan offers assistance, but treats it as a business opportunity, demanding a stake in return.
• Precarious coexistence: The Ghouls face danger and exclusion, and their willingness to negotiate suggests uneasy cooperation may be possible.

Plot points and events

• After eating a ghoul’s severed claw, Evan learns it permanently increased his resistance to physical blows and raised his Physique by 0.3. Reversing the effects would take 60 hours. The claw’s parasites, fungus, and traces of a Beyonder characteristic also boosted Copper Plague’s progress.
• Evan reports the family’s predicament to Garp, judging that their business proposal is genuine rather than a scam. Garp agrees to hear them out.
• The family’s patriarch, Jack Leto, presents documents and a business case: Sapp Mining Group wants the land occupied by his cemetery for a new factory. Garp reacts with disgust at the company’s name and invites Leto inside to negotiate, leaving Evan outside.
• After forty minutes, Leto emerges delighted: Miss Hurst has agreed to help the family. With twenty minutes left before the train reaches New Haven, the family reunites in relief.

Character developments

• Evan shows quick judgment and initiative, earning Garp’s approval. He remains pragmatic about his low status, accepting that he is treated as a tool, while focusing on the gains he made from the ghoul claw and his growing power.
• Garp recognizes Evan’s competence and takes the family’s case seriously, though he still follows the hierarchy that keeps Evan outside the negotiations.
• Jack Leto proves himself composed and businesslike, carefully supporting his appeal with figures, a map, and legal documents. His relief at securing help reveals how much the family’s future matters to him.
• Leto’s family react with a mix of fear and curiosity toward Evan, then share in the joy of the successful outcome.

Significant themes

• Power and bodily transformation: Evan’s strength grows through consuming monstrous parts, with benefits and dangerous side effects.
• Hierarchy and status: Evan’s useful work earns praise but not equal standing; access to decision-makers depends on rank, not merit.
• Pragmatism and opportunity: Evan treats danger as a source of advancement, while the Leto family turns a desperate situation into a formal business appeal.
• Family and solidarity: The chapter ends by emphasizing the family’s unity and relief, despite their frightening nature.

Character interactions

• The ghoul children question how Evan survived their poison and why a Demon Hunter would eat a claw, underscoring how strange he seems to them.
• Evan gives Garp a selective account of the encounter; Garp trusts his assessment and meets Leto.
• Leto’s professional presentation contrasts with Evan’s rough handling of him earlier, while Garp’s response shows both skepticism and hostility toward Sapp Mining Group.
• The Leto family’s reunion closes the chapter on a note of shared relief.

Key plot points and events

• Leto thanks Evan for saving him and confirms he will honor Evan’s five-percent stake. He gives Evan his company’s business card and offers help with anything involving corpses.
• The train arrives at New Haven’s Second United Society Station. While Hurst family staff manage the young women and their luggage, Garp asks Evan to help seal the emptied compartments.
• Evan uses the brief privacy to activate his Demon-Hunting Form and let the Copper Plague consume the compartments’ Copperization Curses. The process is quicker than before, and each room’s curse yields increasing progress.
• Garp is impressed by Evan’s speed but sends him to carry luggage instead, warning him to keep his distance from the young ladies.
• A strict governess, who has repeatedly blocked Eldin from seeing Evan, assigns him heavy bags. Evan effortlessly lifts several and cheekily asks her to hang the remaining bags around his neck. The young ladies laugh at her expense.
• Forced to preserve her public composure, the governess carries out his request, then insists he address her as “Mrs. Victor.” Evan repeats the title with deliberately teasing emphasis.

Character developments and interactions

• Evan remains opportunistic and irreverent: he disguises curse-hunting as work, gets more efficient at using his Demon-Hunting Form, and answers the governess’s hostility with a public joke. His enhanced Physique makes the luggage trivial.
• Leto shows gratitude and caution, formalizing his promised business connection while respecting the danger of antagonizing a Demon Hunter.
• Garp treats Evan as a capable worker but enforces the Hurst family’s social boundaries.
• Eldin and the other young ladies are amused by Evan’s defiance; their laughter suggests the governess’s strictness has made her unpopular.
• Mrs. Victor tries to control Evan and shield Eldin from him, but his calm, pointed response leaves her embarrassed and unable to retaliate openly.

Significant themes

• Power beneath appearances: Evan’s apparent errand work conceals supernatural progress, while his strength quietly overturns the governess’s assumptions.
• Social hierarchy and resistance: The Hurst household enforces class boundaries, but Evan pushes back through humor rather than open confrontation.
• Pragmatism and survival: Leto’s caution and Evan’s willingness to exploit brief opportunities reflect the characters’ instinct to adapt and get ahead.

Key plot points and events

• In New Haven, the Hurst family party leaves the station in a large convoy, while Evan is left behind. Garp gives him a hotel address, temporary identification, a city map, and confirms he will still be paid.
• With free time until evening, Evan checks his Attribute Panel. Copper Plague has reached 30.371%, making Stage One available. Activation would grant broad immunity to viruses, bacteria, and fungi, plus the ability to turn parts of his body into hard brass.
• The new ability carries permanent drawbacks: a patch of his skin will rust once a week, and his reduced electrical resistance means an electrical attack could blind him. Evan thinks the risks are manageable but postpones activation until he can find somewhere private.
• Hill appears unexpectedly. She and Evan exchange greetings, then head out for lunch and to deal with Evan’s important business.

Character developments and interactions

• Evan is pleased by the prospect of Copper Plague’s powers and pragmatically plans how to cope with its side effects, but shows caution by avoiding a public activation.
• Hill arrives looking like a fashionable city woman, though her tired demeanor reveals how overworked she is. She has recently escaped a vampire pursuer and has been sent on an intensive library study visit.
• Evan compliments Hill, and she teases him about the Hurst heiress; he immediately insists Hill is prettier. Hill approves of his recent conduct and says she was right to trust him.
• Hill’s schedule is packed with library visits, research, reports, and frequent updates, yet she chooses to spend her limited free time helping Evan.

Significant themes

• Power and cost: Evan’s new transformation offers substantial protection and combat utility, but its irreversible weaknesses require careful judgment.
• Duty and exploitation: The Hurst party’s meticulous arrangements contrast with Evan being left behind as a temporary, low-paid hire; Hill, meanwhile, is burdened by relentless institutional work.
• Trust and loyalty: Hill’s praise confirms her growing confidence in Evan, while their banter and willingness to help one another show an easy, supportive bond.

Key plot points and events

• Evan and Hill visit the Armitage Museum, which serves as Miskatonic University’s New Haven office.
• Hill introduces Evan to Dr. Henry Armitage and explains Evan’s recent achievements: becoming a Demon Hunter, defeating an apprentice-level Bloodthirsty Species, tolerating magic potions unusually well, and receiving a Homecoming invitation for December 31.
• Armitage calls Evan talented and offers him work as an investigator. The role has no salary, but cases pay rewards and grant university backing, detective-level standing, legal gun-carrying rights, and access to police files.
• Evan accepts immediately, signs a contract, and is officially registered with the police. He receives a blue Miskatonic investigator booklet, which gives him a legal identity and increased status.
• Armitage gives Evan four magic potions as a welcome gift. Hill praises Armitage as a legendary, trustworthy protector and assures Evan he can seek the Doctor’s advice.

Character developments

• Evan is practical and eager to seize opportunities. His new investigator status gives him a sense of security and marks a major rise in social and legal standing.
• Hill shows unusual respect for Armitage and acts as Evan’s advocate, presenting his strengths and guiding him through the arrangement.
• Armitage emerges as energetic, observant, generous, and modest. He recognizes Evan’s potential but remains cautious about the significance of the December 31 invitation.

Significant themes

• Legitimacy and social mobility: Official credentials transform Evan’s standing and offer protections unavailable to someone of his former status.
• Duty and service: Investigation is presented as work to preserve the world’s stability, supported by institutional authority.
• Knowledge and preparation: Miskatonic’s occult scholarship and potion-making provide practical tools against supernatural dangers.
• Generational responsibility: Armitage’s remark that the world now belongs to the young suggests a handoff to the next generation.

Character interactions

• Hill’s respectful introduction establishes Armitage’s authority and trustworthiness.
• Armitage tests Evan’s interest with a concrete offer; Evan’s blunt demand for payment amuses him and helps establish an easy rapport.
• Armitage’s gift and Hill’s endorsement frame the Doctor as a mentor Evan can turn to when confronting the unusual.

Plot points and events

• Evan tells Professor Armitage that Alcott and the Phoenix Brotherhood are connected to the Spirit Communion Society, whose members are experimenting with the Old Gods and manipulating ordinary people.
• Armitage confirms that the Society is a serious threat. He assigns Evan to investigate the lead in Arkham and promises Miskatonic University’s support, while warning him to avoid harming ordinary people unnecessarily.
• Armitage explains that a Monk Apprentice’s desire manipulation lasts at most six hours and can affect no more than six people at a time. He also warns that Monks may have other Beyonder abilities, can be physically frail, and struggle to control their own desires.
• Evan reveals that Alcott’s power briefly weakened his desire to resist. Armitage recognizes Evan’s unusually sensitive Spirituality and offers to teach him the basics of Curse Removal and Amulets.
• Armitage explains that magic draws on external forces to amplify Beyonder abilities, and that its effectiveness can depend on timing and celestial conditions. He distinguishes exorcism talismans, which repel threats, from protective talismans, which can attract or sense things or strengthen the wearer.
• He teaches Evan that curse removal works by countering or overriding one Beyonder effect with another. Since Evan has not yet mastered a Beyonder Characteristic, he cannot perform it himself. Armitage leaves for a nearby room, apparently to retrieve something for him.

Character developments and interactions

• Evan shows respect for Armitage, reports what he has learned, and demonstrates curiosity and quick understanding. His experience resisting Alcott’s manipulation reveals a sensitivity that surprises both Armitage and Hill.
• Armitage emerges as a principled but battle-hardened investigator: he is determined to oppose injustice and protect the innocent, while also offering Evan practical backing and instruction.
• Hill is shocked by Evan’s ability to detect the manipulation, but exhaustion leads her to withdraw and rest.
• Evan and Armitage develop a mentor–student dynamic: Armitage tests Evan’s understanding, explains both threats and techniques, and prepares to help him despite his lack of advancement.

Significant themes

• Justice and responsibility: Armitage’s group intends to confront wrongdoing, but insists on limiting harm to innocent people.
• Power and self-control: The Monk’s ability to manipulate others contrasts with his inability to control his own desires.
• Knowledge and preparation: Understanding an enemy’s limitations—and learning how magic works—is essential to facing supernatural threats.
• Magic as a practical force: Rather than being mysterious spectacle, magic is presented as an extension of Beyonder abilities shaped by materials, external forces, and timing.

Plot points and events

• Armitage gives Evan an Exorcism Talisman made of brass and snake-skin cord. It can partially resist the Monk’s desire-control ability, buying Evan time to counterattack, though it cannot block the influence completely.
• Armitage explains four potions prepared for Evan:
  • Iron Blood Potion: Removes emotional fluctuations for an hour, helping resist the Monk, but causes permanent memory damage and two days of insomnia. Armitage warns Evan to save it for a critical moment, since losing fear could make him reckless.
  • Shark Potion: Enhances Demon Hunter Sight and lets Evan filter out distracting auras for thirty minutes, with tracking up to ten kilometers; permanently slightly worsens his vision and removes his sense of taste for two days.
  • Gecko Potion: Boosts healing for ten minutes, followed by severe anemia for a week.
  • Lion Potion: An intermediate potion that greatly improves strength and flexibility for ten minutes, but causes permanent muscle atrophy and makes Evan less resilient to pain.
• Armitage explains that potion potency comes with toxicity: basic potions can be taken up to six at once, intermediate up to four, and advanced up to two. Evan is shocked to learn his four potions cost $100 and asks if he can sell them; Armitage firmly refuses.
• Armitage stresses that the potions were selected for Evan’s needs and must be used carefully, not casually. Evan accepts the warning—at least for the moment.

Character developments and interactions

• Armitage acts as Evan’s mentor and protector, giving him equipment and practical instruction while expressing regret at involving a new recruit in a dangerous investigation. His stern warnings are tempered by genuine concern.
• Evan shows gratitude and listens, but his cheerful reaction to severe side effects reveals his unusual outlook: he believes permanent damage may mean lasting stat gains. His delight in the potions and attempt to cash them out exasperate Armitage.
• Their relationship combines trust and care with comic friction: Armitage lectures and worries, while Evan’s optimism repeatedly undermines the seriousness of the discussion.

Significant themes

• Power has a cost: Potions offer powerful advantages but inflict lasting or temporary damage, making every use a calculated risk.
• Preparation and survival: The talisman and tailored potions give Evan a chance against Alcott and the Monk, but cannot guarantee safety.
• Optimism amid horror: Evan’s bright attitude is both a source of humor and, as Armitage suggests, a possible defense against going mad. Still, his willingness to welcome harm hints that optimism can become dangerous recklessness.

Plot points

• Dr. Armitage spends the afternoon teaching Evan practical occult knowledge, including curse removal, talismans, exorcism rituals, and basic divination. Evan memorizes the material with his enhanced memory.
• After meditating, Hill takes Evan to the museum’s basement training room to teach him combat. She confidently invites him to attack, but his punch is so powerful that she barely dodges it. When she strikes his ribs, she injures her own hand against his unusually hard body.
• Evan explains that after being bitten by a Bloodthirsty Species, he has become stronger and heals faster. He admits to craving blood and having drunk rat blood, but says he is not afraid of sunlight.
• Hill tests whether he is vulnerable to silver; Evan becomes dizzy, suggesting he has begun developing Bloodthirsty Species traits, though their full weaknesses have not emerged. Evan says he has chosen this path and has asked his senior brother to make a Magic Potion from the creature’s trait.
• Hill accepts his decision and promises to protect him. She then teaches him basic Demon Hunter combat techniques, which he memorizes.
• At dusk, Evan and Hill leave the museum. They part warmly, with Hill heading home by streetcar.

Character developments and interactions

• Evan shows growing confidence in his new strength and supernatural path, while continuing to rely on his memory and eagerness to learn. He is also caring toward Hill, checking on her after she hurts her hand and offering to help if she runs into trouble.
• Hill shifts from playful combat instructor to concerned protector once she realizes Evan is developing vampire-like traits. Though startled by his condition, she responds with loyalty and reassurance, drawing on her lineage’s experience hunting Bloodthirsty Species.
• Their relationship is affectionate and familial: Hill calls him “brat” and ruffles his hair, while Evan admires her and thinks of her as his favorite senior sister.
• Dr. Armitage serves as a patient mentor, providing Evan with occult instruction and a quiet farewell.

Significant themes

• Power and its costs: Evan’s new abilities make him extraordinarily strong, but his blood craving and possible silver sensitivity hint at dangerous consequences.
• Learning through discipline: Evan rapidly absorbs both scholarly occult knowledge and practical combat skills.
• Loyalty and protection: Hill’s promise to safeguard Evan reinforces the importance of trust and family-like bonds among the Demon Hunters.

Key events

• After leaving Hill, Evan walks through New Haven, noting its industrial prosperity, skilled workforce, and telephone industry. He judges it more convenient and promising for his plans than Bolton City, especially as a place to test drugs.
• Back at the hotel, Garp assigns Evan security duties for the next day: guard the entrance to Hill’s viewing area during a match, remain available for night duty, and follow a tight schedule.
• Alone in the washroom, Evan activates his new ability. The process brings a metallic taste, patterned yellow-red veins spreading beneath his skin, and disturbing sounds that test his endurance.
• His Physique rises from 5.436 to 6.186. He gains greater strength, stamina, and sharper senses, while his skin becomes much tougher.
• Evan discovers he can transform parts of his body into brass without losing dexterity. He tests the ability and learns that he can copperize two body regions at once, with regions defined by area rather than volume.

Character developments and interactions

• Evan continues to assess his abilities and surroundings pragmatically, comparing his strength with other Demon Hunter Apprentices and identifying New Haven’s potential usefulness.
• Garp treats Evan as a trusted member of the security detail, giving him clear responsibilities and a demanding schedule. Evan accepts without objection.
• Evan’s reaction to Copperization shifts from careful testing to delighted confidence; the transformation makes him feel exceptionally protected.

Significant themes

• Progress through transformation: Evan’s activation brings a measurable physical upgrade and a strange bodily change.
• Control and adaptability: Copperization is powerful but limited, and Evan methodically works out its rules.
• Modernity and opportunity: New Haven’s industry and technology contrast with Bolton City’s older, more entrenched social order.
• Security and power: Evan’s growing physical resilience reinforces his sense of safety and capability.

Plot points

• After testing his Copperization ability, Evan eats, sleeps, and recovers quickly before joining Garp’s convoy to Truth University’s football game as Miss Eldin’s bodyguard.
• The outing is uneventful: Evan understands neither the game nor his guarded role, sees Eldin only briefly, and returns to the hotel without incident. Since no trouble arose, he earns only his base pay.
• With several hours free, Evan decides to visit the Armitage Museum for more Occult Studies. In the hotel lobby, he spots Albert Trus, an old childhood acquaintance and fringe Phoenix Brotherhood member, looking severely exhausted.
• Evan sees Albert’s condition as an opportunity to take the initiative against the Brotherhood. He approaches him, ready to use Albert as a plausible pretext for a confrontation whether Albert is innocent or being used as bait.
• Albert breaks down, describing two years of being exploited and humiliated by older students. He asks Evan to walk with him, recalling that he once stood up for Evan as a child.
• As they walk, Evan uses Demon Hunter Sight and heightened senses to check Albert. He finds no supernatural control or Beyonder aura, but detects traces of three expensive perfumes on him. Evan jokes that Albert seems to have received a “Farewell Brothel Fee,” implying he has recently been with several wealthy women.

Character developments

• Evan remains observant, strategic, and opportunistic. Though his bodyguard work is dull, he uses the unexpected encounter to seek a chance to act against the Brotherhood on his own terms.
• Albert appears physically and emotionally broken by years of servitude, mockery, and exclusion. His anger and resentment finally spill out, and he turns to Evan for companionship and help.
• Garp and Eldin remain largely peripheral: Garp’s arrangements structure Evan’s day, while Eldin’s privileged schedule highlights how distant Evan is from the world he guards.

Significant themes

• Privilege and exploitation: Albert’s treatment as an errand boy reflects the social hierarchy that Evan’s bodyguard role also exposes.
• Appearances versus reality: The polished university outing is uneventful, while Albert’s apparently ordinary presence may conceal a larger Brotherhood plot.
• Agency and pretext: Evan rejects passively waiting for opponents to act and looks for a defensible reason to make the first move.
• Humor amid tension: Evan’s dry commentary and blunt joke soften the scene while underscoring his irreverent outlook.

Character interactions

• Evan humors the boastful bodyguard Jack about the uncomfortable car rather than openly insulting him.
• He has almost no contact with Eldin, reinforcing the formality and distance of his assignment.
• With Albert, Evan adopts the manner of an old friend, listens as Albert recounts his mistreatment, and agrees to walk with him—while privately assessing whether he is dangerous or being manipulated.

Key plot points and events

• Evan and Albert walk through the city, reminiscing about childhood and their school applications. As they reach a darker industrial district, Albert offers to buy Evan red tea.
• Evan uses Demon Hunter Sight and discovers at least ten ordinary men hiding nearby, ready to attack. He also spots Alcott, surrounded by dense pink mist, watching from an abandoned factory.
• Evan refuses to drink the tea, suspecting it may be drugged. When he calls out Alcott, Albert panics and attacks him with a dagger.
• Evan catches Albert’s wrist and redirects the dagger through Albert’s jaw into his brainstem, killing him. Albert’s boastful explanation makes clear that he acted willingly, driven by sexual conquests and a desire for acceptance among the upper class.
• Alcott’s hidden men emerge and surround Evan. Among them are Dennis, armed with a pistol, and Thompson, Evan’s former bully, carrying a spiked bat.
• Enraged by their contempt for people of lower status, Evan laughs and declares his intent to kill them. He races past the surrounding attackers, leaps over the factory wall, and confronts Alcott inside.
• The chapter ends with Evan’s appearance changing: his hair turns silver-white, and his eyes become golden, slit-pupiled, and lamp-like in the darkness.

Character developments and interactions

• Evan stays alert and controlled through Albert’s deception, then acts decisively when Albert attacks. His childhood affection gives way to judgment once he realizes Albert chose betrayal freely. The attackers’ class-based insults awaken his long-suppressed anger, and he shifts into a frightening, transformed state.
• Albert reveals that his apparent reunion with Evan was a trap. He has embraced betrayal as a route to social advancement and takes pride in the previous night’s sexual conquests. Evan kills him without hesitation after concluding he was not under anyone’s control.
• Alcott remains in the background, directing the ambush and relying on hidden men as expendable muscle. Evan singles him out as the most dangerous target.
• Dennis and Thompson taunt Evan and embody the hostility he has endured, with Thompson’s past bullying making the confrontation especially personal.

Significant themes

• Choice and responsibility: Evan distinguishes between someone controlled by supernatural forces and someone who knowingly chooses betrayal.
• Class prejudice and social ambition: Albert’s desire for acceptance and the attackers’ disdain for “mongrels” expose the cruelty of a rigid class hierarchy.
• Betrayal and disillusionment: Nostalgic memories cannot excuse Albert’s deliberate attack; Evan’s view of their friendship changes irreversibly.
• Revenge and escalating violence: The ambush turns Evan’s restraint into open fury, setting up a direct confrontation with Alcott.

This is an author’s launch announcement and update plan, rather than a story chapter.

• Launch: The book goes on sale tomorrow at noon, with ten chapters released at once—about 40,000 Chinese characters total. If first-day subscriptions reach 3,000, the author will add five chapters the next day.
• Regular updates: The author plans to publish at least two chapters together each day at 6 p.m., totaling about 8,000 characters, with occasional ten-chapter batches. They intend to keep a backlog of roughly seven chapters.
• Lessons from the previous book: After updating too quickly on This Boss Is Surprisingly Levelheaded, the author ran short on prepared material and rushed important plot turns. The resulting uneven transitions disappointed readers, and readership fell sharply. This time, the backlog is meant to allow careful revision, plot checks, and stronger foreshadowing.
• Reassurance about genre: Readers concerned about the shift from sci-fi to steampunk urban secret societies are told that this blend is familiar territory for the author, who has previously written Cthulhu-inspired stories and a well-received work combining Cthulhu, steampunk, and secret societies.
• Author–reader interaction and themes: The author repeatedly thanks readers and asks for their support, while acknowledging past mistakes and promising a steadier story. The main themes are gratitude, learning from failure, and balancing update speed with quality.

Key plot points and events

• Evan confronts Alcott, who is stunned to discover that Evan is a Demon Hunter. Alcott tries to suppress Evan’s desire to fight with Desire Manipulation.
• The Iron Blood Potion, a Snake-Skin Exorcism Talisman, and Evan’s strong Mind attribute counter most of the spell’s effects. Though emotionally numb, Evan retains his purpose: to kill his enemies.
• Evan attacks before Alcott can cast again, smashing his head with a Copperized fist and then crushing his chest to ensure he is dead. He drinks Alcott’s blood, but finds it ordinary and gains no Copper Plague progress.
• Dennis, Thompson, and the gang arrive. Dennis shoots Evan, but the bullets shatter against Evan’s Copperized body; his Regeneration repairs the minor damage.
• Evan advances deliberately as the gang attacks. Their bats and blades break against his body. He kills the attackers one by one, including the five who charge first and three armed accomplices.
• Dennis flees toward the factory doors, but Evan catches him just as he is about to escape. The chapter ends before Dennis’s fate is shown.

Character developments

• Evan reveals the full force of his Demon Hunter abilities and treats the fight as a deliberate reckoning with those who previously bullied him. The potion leaves him calm and emotionless, but not passive: his commitment to killing remains intact.
• Alcott is exposed as reliant on his power to control others; once Evan resists it, Alcott is quickly overwhelmed.
• Dennis and Thompson shift from confident aggression to panic as they realize Evan is beyond ordinary human strength. Thompson’s offer of money and apology comes only when he understands he cannot win.

Significant themes

• Control versus will: Alcott’s emotional manipulation fails against Evan’s preparation and determination.
• Power and vulnerability: The gang’s weapons and numbers prove useless against Evan’s supernatural durability.
• Revenge and intimidation: Evan makes the attackers watch his approach, turning the encounter into a demonstration of their helplessness.
• Emotional numbness: The potion removes Evan’s feelings, making his violence methodical rather than triumphant.

Character interactions

• Alcott attempts to manipulate Evan, but Evan’s potion and talisman blunt the spell, allowing him to attack.
• Dennis’s grief and rage over Alcott’s death lead him to shoot Evan, while Thompson mocks Dennis’s apparent poor aim—unaware that the bullets cannot hurt Evan.
• The gang members attack Evan together, but their weapons break against him and he kills them in succession.
• Thompson pleads for his life and offers money, but Evan rejects his appeal. Dennis tries to escape, only for Evan to seize him at the exit.

Key plot points and events

• After the ten students are killed, Evan discovers that the factory is saturated with Blood Qi and identifies the corpses as its source. The bodies spring away and fuse into a towering “Flesh Mecha.”
• Alcott emerges as the creature’s human head, revealing that he survived Evan’s earlier attack by preparing a second form. The monster combines the ten restored heads and bodies, four powerful arms, and two barbed tentacles.
• Evan attacks before the transformation is complete, but the creature’s elastic flesh absorbs his blow and its counterattacks prove overwhelming. Alcott’s tentacle breaks Evan’s arm and hurls him into a wall.
• Evan swallows both a Gecko Potion and a Lion Potion. The Gecko Potion grants extreme regeneration; the Lion Potion boosts his Physique and flexibility. Together, they heal his arm and raise his strength beyond Alcott’s.
• Transformed by the potions and Copper Plague, Evan grows larger, faster, and more monstrous. He tears off one of Alcott’s tentacles and withstands the giant’s four-handed assault. The chapter ends as Evan challenges Alcott to a contest of strength.

Character developments

• Evan fights under the Iron Blood Potion’s emotionless, ruthless clarity. Though he recognizes that he is initially outmatched, he adapts quickly, uses his remaining potions, and becomes a far more formidable opponent.
• Alcott reveals his hidden second phase and boasts about surviving Evan’s earlier attack. His confidence gives way to alarm and anger when Evan’s transformation reverses their advantage.
• Dennis and the other students are killed, but their bodies and heads are incorporated into Alcott’s monstrous form, making them part of his weapon.

Significant themes

• Preparation and adaptation: Evan wins ground by acting decisively and changing tactics when raw strength is insufficient.
• Monstrous power and loss of humanity: Alcott’s transformation turns victims into components of his body; Evan’s own potion-enhanced form also becomes frighteningly inhuman.
• Hubris and reversal: Alcott’s taunting gives way to panic once Evan’s strength surpasses his expectations.
• Power at a cost: The potions provide dramatic short-term benefits but carry side effects, reflected in the reversal periods recorded after Evan consumes them.

Character interactions

• Alcott taunts Evan, boasting that he has forced him to reveal his true form and assuming Evan cannot obtain effective potions.
• Evan refuses to engage with Alcott’s speech, repeatedly attacking and responding with practical choices rather than emotion.
• The contest shifts from Alcott dominating Evan physically to Evan tearing away a tentacle and enduring the giant’s blows, setting up their next clash.

Plot points and events

• Supercharged by the Lion and Iron Blood Potions, Evan overwhelms Alcott’s enormous Flesh Armor. He ignores most incoming blows, relying on his copperized body and rapid healing, and tears the creature apart.
• Alcott escapes by splitting the Flesh Armor into eleven bodies. His consciousness transfers into a prepared host more than two streets away, using his Desire Transfer Characteristic.
• Alcott’s abilities are explained: Desire Fusion lets him turn people seeded with shared desires into puppets or absorb them into Flesh Armor; Desire Transfer lets him hide his Beyonder Core in a seed and move his consciousness to a host within 300 meters. He also uses the family heirloom One-Ninth Silver Key to regain his own appearance and Misdirection Spray to evade tracking.
• Alcott flees New Haven in a Ford, planning to return to his family’s protection. Meanwhile, Evan realizes the escape was a deception and drinks the Shark Potion, dramatically enhancing his Demon Hunter Sight. He tracks Alcott from over three kilometers away.
• Evan races after the car on all fours, reaching roughly 100 kilometers per hour. As Alcott relaxes several kilometers outside the city, Evan lands on the car roof, tears it open, and pulls him out by the head.

Character developments

• Evan becomes a near-emotionless, relentless pursuer under the potions’ influence. He adapts quickly to their combined abilities and uses exceptional perception and speed to overcome Alcott’s escape plan.
• Alcott shifts from confidence and contempt to panic and desperation. Though resourceful and prepared with multiple escape measures, he underestimates Evan and remains consumed by resentment and revenge.

Character interactions

• The fight is defined by Evan’s brutal, direct assault against Alcott’s larger but increasingly vulnerable Flesh Armor. Alcott’s insults and disbelief give way to fear as Evan destroys it.
• After escaping, Alcott believes distance and concealment have made him safe. Evan’s tracking ability overturns that confidence, culminating in a sudden confrontation on the road.

Significant themes

• Power versus status: Alcott’s family rank and training do not guarantee victory over Evan’s determination and unusual strength.
• Preparation and adaptation: Alcott’s layered escape plans nearly work, but Evan responds with new tools and persistence.
• The cost of power: Multiple potions make Evan terrifyingly effective, while stripping away ordinary fear, hesitation, and emotion.
• Predator and prey: The chase reverses Alcott’s expectations: the fugitive who thinks he has escaped becomes the prey.

Plot points and events

• Evan kills Botis Alcott after Alcott’s soul transfers into another young man’s body. Fearing further tricks, Evan crushes the new body’s head and searches it, finding Alcott’s Beyonder Characteristic.
• A small, silver-white key tries to escape through a marmot burrow. Evan uses the Secondary Brain and his tracking ability to catch it.
• The key identifies itself as a Living Artifact: a special Magic Artifact containing a Beyonder Characteristic. It merges into the Secondary Brain, strengthening Evan’s control over it and granting it the ability to pick locks.
• Evan senses two powerful Beyonders approaching. They are members of the Authorities’ system: a male Demon Hunter and a female Witch, both marked by golden auras.
• The newcomers confront Evan, wary of his potion-altered appearance and enormous footprints. He calmly presents his university and Hurst-family credentials, explains that Alcott was a Spirit Communion Society cultist, and describes his crimes. The Demon Hunter begins checking his documents.

Character developments

• Evan remains calculating under the Iron Blood Potion’s influence. He secures both the Beyonder Characteristic and the Living Artifact, then carefully manages the authorities’ suspicions through a composed explanation and evidence.
• The Secondary Brain proves its usefulness as a tracker and hunter, and gains a new lock-picking ability after absorbing the key.
• Alcott is revealed as an arrogant, cruel cultist who exploited students and crossed every boundary; his attempt to escape death through soul transfer fails.
• The Demon Hunter and Witch arrive cautious and armed, but the man lowers his weapon after hearing Evan’s account and reviewing his credentials.

Themes

• Power and its costs: Beyonder abilities and artifacts offer advantages, but may carry risks or side effects.
• Control and trust: Evan evaluates the key before accepting it, while the Authorities’ golden mark suggests that protection comes with submission to a larger system.
• Calculation over emotion: The Iron Blood Potion suppresses Evan’s fear, satisfaction, and humor, shaping his choices into cold assessments.
• Institutional order versus abuse: Evan argues that Alcott’s crimes violated established rules—and expects Miskatonic University to handle the aftermath.

Character interactions

• Evan refuses Alcott’s pleas and insults, ending the confrontation decisively.
• He treats the Secondary Brain like a capable companion, silently approving its successful capture of the key.
• When the Demon Hunter and Witch threaten him with pistols, Evan avoids escalating the encounter, explains his actions, and provides documentation; the Demon Hunter responds by checking his credentials.

Key events

• Evan is detained after the fight while the Demon Hunter and Witch verify his identity. Miskatonic University’s Doctor Armitage arrives with police and confirms Evan’s affiliation. Armitage praises Evan’s work, but refuses to let him claim a valuable car as spoils because it is evidence.
• In the carriage, Armitage explains that the creature’s sac can be refined into a Magic Potion. It can begin someone on the Monk path or give a person of another Profession about 30% of a Monk’s Talent Characteristic. A dead Beyonder’s developed Characteristics vanish with their Spirituality; only one basic Profession Characteristic can be extracted.
• Armitage explains that potion power is absorbed imperfectly: the unused portion returns to its Signifier and may reappear as a Monster or Magic Artifact. When Evan asks why the potion cannot simply be injected, Armitage reacts with alarm. He warns that direct injection would unleash the Monster’s Bestiality at once, turning the drinker into a Monster. He urges Evan never to let pride or overconfidence override reason.
• Evan gives a statement at the Police Department and is cleared. He observes the exhausted aftermath of the case and predicts that the press will report a faceless, deranged killer, with the story soon forgotten.
• Armitage takes Evan to dinner. Once the Iron Blood Potion wears off, Evan’s cheerful personality returns, and he consumes an astonishing amount of food. His enhanced digestion converts the surplus into nutrients and blood reserves, bringing his Blood Quality to 242.5%.

Character development and interactions

• Evan remains observant and curious, studying the officials and absorbing Armitage’s explanation. His question about injection reveals his practical, unconventional thinking, but he accepts the warning as a serious lesson. After the potion’s effects fade, his humor and enormous appetite return.
• Armitage shifts from approving mentor to fierce, almost haunted teacher when Evan raises the idea of injection. His reaction suggests painful experience behind his warning; once Evan assures him he was only asking, Armitage relaxes.
• The Demon Hunter and Witch conduct themselves professionally but show their exhaustion through sloppy dress, yawning, and quiet complaints about night work and poor allowances. Armitage treats the police respectfully, while Evan’s request to keep the car earns him several baffled looks.

Significant themes

• Reason versus Bestiality: Humanity depends on self-restraint; absorbing Monster power too quickly risks losing one’s humanity.
• Power and identity: Developed Beyonder abilities are bound to the individual’s soul and experience, while basic Characteristics can be inherited.
• Cycles of power: Unabsorbed potion power returns to the Signifier and re-enters the world through Monsters and Magic Artifacts.
• Routine beneath the supernatural: Even a violent supernatural case leads to paperwork, tired officials, and short-lived news coverage.