Chapter Summaries

Lynn proposed making John the center of a young hero training camp, turning the children’s growth into a Vought International media project and building John’s influence. Three months later, during a promotional shoot, a heavy lighting rig fell toward several makeup artists.

• Lynn presented Madelyn with a plan to create a young hero camp led by John, and Madelyn recognized its commercial potential.
• John met six young superpowered children, reassured them, and helped Annie control the glow in her palms.
• Lynn watched John comfort Annie and saw the camp as a way for John to build a loyal team within Vought International.
• Vought International launched the Tomorrow’s Stars Pioneer Camp program, which became a hit with American viewers over the next three months.
• John and the children posed for a promotional poster when a heavy lighting rig broke loose and fell toward several makeup artists.

John saved the makeup artists from a falling steel frame, then used forgiveness to make Tommy feel indebted and obedient. Back at the estate, Lynn praised John’s methods as the Vanguard Camp’s ratings and profits soared, while Madelyn brought news of another thirty million in funding.

• John caught a collapsing steel frame and reassured the makeup artists, winning their applause and the superpowered children’s admiration.
• John confronted Tommy about loosening the rig’s screws, then forgave him while warning him not to expect another pardon.
• John privately told Lynn that Tommy now looked at him with devotion, and Lynn taught him to use forgiveness and hope to gain loyalty.
• Lynn reviewed record ratings and rising merchandise sales for “Tomorrow’s Stars Pioneer Camp.”
• Madelyn told Lynn that the board had approved thirty million more for the Vanguard Camp, and Lynn warned her against interference.

John stopped Reggie from bullying Annie and comforted her by rebuilding her castle, earning the children's admiration. Later, Lynn hosted a private barbecue for the Vanguard Camp children, where John shared a sincere moment with Annie.

• Reggie knocked down Annie's block castle with a gust of wind, then shoved Tommy when he tried to stop him.
• John caught Reggie by the neck, warned him not to bully weaker children, and released him.
• John rebuilt Annie's castle, and she thanked him as the children gathered around him.
• Lynn watched the training ground footage, then opened a file on the next batch of child candidates.
• Lynn held a private barbecue for John and the Vanguard Camp children in a camera-free recreation area behind Vought Tower.
• Annie offered John honeyed grilled corn, and he thanked her with a more genuine smile.

At a relaxed barbecue, Lynn urged John to look beyond Vought’s perfect-idol act and try to feel genuine emotions. When Reggie fell and scraped his knee, John comforted him with a bandage, offering Lynn hope that he was beginning to care about others.

• Annie brought John seasoning, and he admitted to Lynn that the sounds around the lawn no longer bothered him as much as they once had.
• Lynn told John that he valued seeing him live like a normal boy and urged him to treat ordinary people as people rather than toys.
• Reggie tripped while running, scraped his knee, and feared that his injury would get him punished.
• John went to Reggie, bandaged his knee, and asked whether it still hurt.
• Lynn watched John return to the picnic table, encouraged by his genuine concern, and planned to reduce Vanguard Camp’s training hours.

Lynn rejected Vought’s plan to add engagements for the Vanguard Camp children, insisting that their training and publicity remain limited to six hours a day. He reassured John that he would protect the children, then joined Annie and Reggie in the activity room.

• Carter brought Lynn a schedule of extra appearances for Annie, Tommy, and Reggie, but Lynn canceled them and required his approval for all future engagements.
• John offered to deal with Carter, and Lynn stopped him, saying he would handle the company’s pressure himself.
• Lynn praised John’s drawings and promised to shield him and the other children until they could protect themselves.
• John reported that Tommy’s heartbeat was steady, and Lynn told him not to use his hearing to eavesdrop on people in the bathroom.
• Lynn and John went to the activity room, where Annie was drawing a winged golden retriever and Reggie was reading with his bandage still on.

Lynn protected the Vanguard Camp children from a mandatory blood-drawing visit, insisting their activity room was a safe zone. John watched the children trust Lynn and began to see protecting them as more meaningful than using his strength to kill.

• Annie showed John her drawing of Buddy with wings, and John praised her coloring while pointing out that Buddy could not fly.
• Tommy returned from the restroom feeling sick, and Lynn offered him warm water and permission to rest while Reggie stopped teasing him at John's request.
• Researchers arrived with syringes to collect the children's routine blood samples, frightening Annie, Reggie, and Tommy.
• Lynn ordered the researchers to remove the medical cart, and John's threatening stare helped ensure they left without taking samples.
• Lynn reassured the children that the activity room was safe, while John reflected on becoming a shield and started coloring with Annie's crayons.

John surprised Lynn with a trip to Chinatown, hoping to help him feel closer to home. When local gang members harassed a restaurant owner and ruined their food, John used restrained force to stop them, and Lynn stayed to order a fresh meal.

• John blindfolded Lynn and flew him from Vought Tower to Chinatown as a surprise.
• John explained that he had learned Lynn spoke Chinese in his sleep and wanted to find him food from home.
• Three gang members demanded protection money from an elderly restaurant owner and knocked his pan-fried buns onto the street.
• John caught the leader’s wrist and crushed a pair of iron tongs into a ball, forcing the gang members to pick up the buns and apologize.
• Lynn paid the owner for fresh pan-fried buns and roast duck and sat down to eat with John.

Lynn and John shared a meal in Chinatown, where John asked Lynn to teach him Chinese so he could understand him better. Back at Vought Tower, Lynn led the children through a relay game without using their powers, and they learned to rely on one another as they raced.

• The elderly Chinese man thanked Lynn for helping him, and Lynn and John ate pan-fried buns, roast duck, and soup.
• John asked Lynn to teach him Chinese because he disliked being unable to understand Lynn's conversations and dreams, and Lynn agreed to teach him every day.
• After pretending his stomach felt funny, John vanished, then reappeared a minute later and walked with Lynn through Chinatown before they took a taxi home.
• On Monday, Lynn explained the rules of a relay game that required Reggie, Annie, and Tommy to complete the course without using their powers.
• Reggie restrained his super speed, while Annie got up after falling and suppressed her glowing hands so she could finish her turn.
• Lynn watched the children work together and considered what extra dishes to serve them for lunch.

The President’s Office assigned Kevin, a timid boy who could communicate with aquatic animals and breathe underwater, to Lynn’s Vanguard Camp. After the children welcomed him and John rescued his goldfish Charlie, Lynn served the group a homemade lunch, where Kevin asked for extra bread for his fish.

• Supervisor Carter brought Kevin and his goldfish Charlie to Lynn’s activity room as a last-minute addition to the camp.
• Kevin introduced himself as the future King of the Seven Seas, and Reggie asked what Charlie was saying.
• Tommy mocked the fish, prompting Kevin to rush at him, slip, and send Charlie’s bowl flying.
• John caught the bowl before it hit the floor and returned it safely to Kevin, who thanked him on Charlie’s behalf.
• Lynn welcomed Kevin to the camp and told him to keep water contained and feed Charlie breadcrumbs instead of a burger.
• Lynn brought the children homemade sandwiches, potato wedges, and orange juice, and Kevin asked John for extra bread for Charlie.

Kevin’s cheerful presence helped the children relax, while John found comfort in watching over them. After nap time, Madelyn summoned Lynn to a meeting about a Japanese delegation opposing Vought’s plans, and John insisted on going with him.

• Kevin fed bread crumbs to Charlie the goldfish as the children joked and played together.
• Lynn explained to John that Kevin’s easygoing nature helped ease the team’s stress, and John came to appreciate the children’s peaceful company.
• Lynn covered the sleeping children with blankets while John kept watch over them.
• After the children woke, Madelyn told Lynn that the Yamato Conglomerate had sent a delegation to oppose Vought’s expansion of Compound V into Japan.
• John insisted on accompanying Lynn to Conference Room Three, and Lynn agreed after instructing him to stay quiet and not use force.

Lynn and John joined Stan Edgar’s meeting with Yamato Conglomerate executive Genji, who rejected Vought’s plans to bring Compound V to Japan. When Genji’s elderly Onmyōji tried to intimidate the Vought executives with supernatural cold, John overwhelmed him and forced him to stop.

• Lynn entered Conference Room Three with John and was introduced to Genji, executive director of the Yamato Conglomerate.
• Genji told Stan Edgar that his group would not allow Compound V into Japan and rejected Vought’s offer to form a joint venture.
• The gaunt old man released a supernatural chill that made the room cold and disturbed Madelyn and Edgar.
• John stepped in front of Lynn and unleashed a biological force field that scattered the old man’s Onmyōdō spell.
• John told the old man the room was too cold, leaving him terrified and unable to respond, while Genji realized something was wrong.

Lynn helped Stan Edgar pressure Genji into leaving without disrupting Vought International’s Compound V deal, then returned to the Vanguard Camp activity room with John. He canceled the children’s usual dinner and led them to the premium kitchen to cook Huaxia dishes, with John as his assistant.

• Lynn warned Genji that New York was dangerous, and Genji left after threatening that the Yamato Conglomerate would remember the meeting.
• Stan Edgar praised Lynn for helping deter Genji, and Lynn left the conference room with John.
• Lynn and John brought bread to the activity room, where Kevin fed his goldfish Charlie and the children gathered around.
• Lynn watched John care for the younger children and reflected that their growing bonds would make them difficult for Vought to control.
• Lynn canceled the children’s nutritious cafeteria meal and announced he would cook Huaxia dishes in the premium kitchen, with John helping him.

Lynn taught the children to help prepare a Huaxian dinner, then cooked a meal they had never tasted before. After everyone ate, he had John help clean up before they headed back.

• Lynn assigned the children kitchen tasks, while Kevin sat safely away from the burners with his goldfish, Charlie.
• John precisely sliced the beef tenderloin, and Lynn cooked sweet-and-sour tenderloin, tomato-braised beef brisket, and fried rice.
• The children eagerly ate the meal, and John enjoyed its homelike warmth beside Lynn.
• After dinner, Lynn asked John to help clear the sink before they headed back.

Genji and the Family Elder plotted to kill John with onmyōdō and ninjutsu after their humiliation at Vought Tower. Back at the Manor, John sensed six concealed intruders outside and a strange sound in the night sky.

• John and Lynn returned to the Manor after dinner, and John saved sweet-and-sour pork for Buddy.
• Genji called John a drug-spawned monstrosity and planned to break Vought International's image by killing or publicly discrediting him.
• The Family Elder prepared to use the Origami Death Crows, while Genji revealed that six elite jōnin from the Shadow Corps were positioned around the Manor.
• John heard a strange paper-like sound in the sky and detected six faint heartbeats approaching the Manor's blind spots.

John killed six Genji Clan assassins who approached the villa, while Lynn destroyed the Death Crows Killing Curse sent into the living room. They left one assassin alive to question, and Lynn prepared to find out who had sent the intruders.

• John slipped out of his bedroom and saw six Shadow Corps ninjas approaching the villa as a Paper Crow flew toward the house.
• John killed the leading Jōnin and five other ninjas on the lawn, then noticed the Paper Crow had entered the living room.
• The Paper Crow attacked Lynn with a Killing Curse, but Lynn used the Yasakani Blood Jade’s power to pierce its talisman with a fountain pen and dispel it.
• John brought a half-dead ninja inside and found Lynn unharmed.
• Lynn told John to wake the surviving ninja with cold water so they could question him.

Lynn questioned a surviving ninja after John stopped him from taking poison, but a Japanese Onmyōji arrived at the Manor with a giant Shikigami called Inugami. John stepped outside to confront the monster, raising his hand as it lunged at him.

• John doused the unconscious ninja with icy water, and Lynn questioned him about whether the Yamato Conglomerate had ordered the attack.
• The ninja tried to bite a poison capsule, but John dislocated his jaw and knocked the capsule free.
• John sensed someone approaching the Manor, and Lynn saw an Onmyōji in the yard with a giant, foul-smelling Shikigami.
• The Onmyōji ordered Inugami to attack John, while Lynn told John to keep the living room carpet clean.
• John stood his ground as Inugami lunged at him and slowly raised his right hand.

John defeated the Onmyōji’s Inugami and crippled the intruder after he attacked the Manor. Lynn warned the Onmyōji to stay away, then took John inside to wash up and go to bed.

• John stopped Inugami’s attack with one hand and crushed it into a scrap of talisman paper.
• John broke the Onmyōji’s wrist and kicked him to his knees.
• Lynn ordered John to let the Onmyōji go and warned him not to send anyone else to the Manor.
• The Onmyōji gathered the Shadow Corps members’ bodies and fled the yard.
• Lynn told John to wash his hands and go to bed, and they returned inside with Buddy.

After Inugami defeated the attackers at Lynn’s estate, the elder ordered his family to leave New York and stop interfering with Vought International’s business in Japan. Lynn and John led the children through a peaceful training session at Vought Tower, which ended when an elderly man emerged from the base.

• The surviving Onmyōji told Genji and the elder that Inugami had defeated their forces and warned them not to interfere again.
• The elder booked flights for the family to return to Japan and ordered them to stop interfering with Vought International’s business there.
• Lynn brought John to the Vanguard Camp’s outdoor physical training, where John helped coach the children and kept Annie safe on the balance beam.
• After training, the children gathered for drinks and snacks, and an elderly man with a cane walked out through the base’s rear doors.

Jonah Vogelbaum confronted Lynn over letting John spend time with the other children instead of training him as a weapon. Lynn defended John and the children as family, leaving the lawn in a tense standoff.

• Jonah Vogelbaum arrived with two researchers and praised John's physical abilities as a scientific creation.
• Vogelbaum called the other children defective products and criticized Lynn for letting John play with them.
• John stepped in front of Annie, Reggie, and the others, shielding them from Vogelbaum's scrutiny.
• Lynn insisted that John and the other children had names and were members of his family.
• Lynn argued that the children needed to become people rather than tools, and told Vogelbaum to complain to President Edgar if he objected.
• Vogelbaum's expression hardened as the researchers grew nervous and the lawn fell into an icy silence.

Lynn stood up to Vogelbaum and reassured the children after the scientist called them defective products. He restored their spirits with praise and an afternoon off, then privately resolved to deal with Vogelbaum himself.

• Lynn rejected Vogelbaum's claim that emotion weakened John and warned the scientist as he left the lawn.
• John admitted he had nearly used his powers against Vogelbaum, but Lynn praised him for controlling himself and protecting Annie and Kevin.
• Lynn comforted Reggie, Annie, Tommy, and Kevin, telling them they were unique and were not defective products.
• Lynn canceled the afternoon's balance practice and invited the children to watch animated movies with pizza, popcorn, and cola.
• As Lynn led the excited children toward the underground recreation area, he privately decided to handle Vogelbaum himself.