Chap­ter 9 — Into Sav­age Bor­neo begins with von Horn stand­ing at the edge of despair, his mind torn between Virginia’s abduc­tion and the trea­sure he still hopes to recov­er. The Itha­ca, now over­tak­en by Dyaks, slips away under a makeshift mast, leav­ing von Horn and a loy­al las­car with lit­tle choice but to return to camp. Believ­ing the dan­ger has passed, they find Pro­fes­sor Max­on and Sing still alive. Upon arrival, von Horn deliv­ers grim news, reveal­ing Virginia’s cap­ture by pirates—led, he claims, by the very crea­ture designed to be her future com­pan­ion. The pro­fes­sor, over­whelmed with guilt, regrets not end­ing the exper­i­ment ear­li­er. Von Horn, sens­ing oppor­tu­ni­ty, promis­es to act, offer­ing com­fort and con­fi­dence in the face of over­whelm­ing odds. In exchange for Virginia’s return, Max­on offers not only his bless­ing but also his wealth, bind­ing his trust to von Horn’s will­ing­ness to face a jun­gle of ene­mies.

While inves­ti­gat­ing the lab­o­ra­to­ry and sur­round­ings, von Horn and Max­on dis­cov­er no signs of a strug­gle. This detail rais­es unset­tling ques­tions. Von Horn sug­gests that Num­ber Thir­teen may have betrayed them, using the chaos of the pirate attack to flee with both the girl and the hid­den wealth. Though the the­o­ry lacks sol­id proof, it fits the cir­cum­stances too well to ignore. Max­on, torn between belief and doubt, begins to con­sid­er the hor­ri­fy­ing pos­si­bil­i­ty that his finest cre­ation turned against him. The lab’s state, undis­turbed but emp­tied of key items, adds weight to this sus­pi­cion. Von Horn fuels this nar­ra­tive, hop­ing it grants him more con­trol over the out­come. The idea of a sen­tient cre­ation act­ing on emo­tion and ambi­tion dis­turbs Max­on deeply, chal­leng­ing his moral and sci­en­tif­ic foun­da­tions.

In the untamed wilder­ness of Bor­neo, the real Num­ber Thir­teen, known now as Bulan, press­es for­ward. His loy­al­ty to Vir­ginia dri­ves him onward, joined by his fel­low cre­ations, each strange yet deter­mined. Togeth­er, they fight through ambush­es and threats, grow­ing more cohe­sive with each test. Despite their mon­strous appear­ances, they dis­play empa­thy and unity—a stark con­trast to the ruth­less pirates they pur­sue. The jun­gle, alive and per­ilous, becomes their prov­ing ground. Bulan’s strength and resolve turn fear­some crea­tures into allies and skep­tics into believ­ers. Though untrained, these cre­ations adapt with sur­pris­ing agili­ty, hint­ing at some­thing more human with­in them than their mak­ers ever imag­ined. Their mis­sion, cen­tered on Vir­ginia, gives them pur­pose beyond their intend­ed design.

Held cap­tive, Vir­ginia endures the uncer­tain­ty of her future with qui­et resilience. Rajah Muda Saf­fir, bru­tal and con­fi­dent, under­es­ti­mates her courage. He sees her as a prize to be bartered or bro­ken. But Virginia’s mind clings to the image of Bulan—his defi­ant strength and unspo­ken care. Though he remains a mys­tery, she sens­es some­thing noble with­in him. Her thoughts give her strength as she endures the suf­fo­cat­ing heat, the harsh jour­ney upriv­er, and the loom­ing fear of what might come. In her still­ness, she pre­pares. She does not break. Though pow­er­less, she does not sur­ren­der her will.

The con­trast between von Horn’s manip­u­la­tions and Bulan’s sim­ple hero­ism sharp­ens with every pass­ing moment. Von Horn moves pawns, spins lies, and grasps for rewards. Bulan, with no promis­es and no name, acts on instinct born from some­thing pure. While Max­on and von Horn chase myths and trea­sure, Bulan clos­es in with a force that is hon­est, even if born of sci­ence. Virginia’s fate, caught in the crosshairs of greed, love, and exper­i­ment, becomes the heart of this unfold­ing strug­gle. The wilds of Bor­neo become the bat­tle­ground not just for bod­ies, but for ideals.

Here, Bur­roughs explores a raw theme: the mea­sure of a man not by birth but by actions. The jun­gle tests this belief at every turn. With every step Bulan takes toward Vir­ginia, he reclaims some­thing human. His mis­sion becomes more than a rescue—it becomes a dec­la­ra­tion. Through dark­ness, decep­tion, and dan­ger, a crea­ture born of a lab walks like a man, choos­ing pur­pose, choos­ing love. And that, above all else, reshapes the mean­ing of human­i­ty in this sav­age land.