Chapter 1: London's Ghosts

In the dark sky, the moon was big and clear and the moonlight shone down into a deep and cold space. The moonlight shone down on a large village below, the shabby and poor houses had turned off the lights, and there was no sound in this place but the sharp wind. The sound of the wind blew through the wide wheat fields and the straw scarecrows shook with every wind. Moonlight shone down on the main road through the village, there was a person walking in the middle of this silent village. He wore black, a cloak, covered his face with a withered feather cap and looked very calm in every movement. In his left hand he held a flintstock pistol and in his right he wore a mechanical gauntlet. His whole body gave off a cold and deadly aura. He had walked through the houses one by one, every angle in every direction directed at this strange person. And suddenly the view behind him and to his left stopped and the guy stopped too. Suddenly, the view behind the guy immediately leapt like an animal at him. And when the thing was about to pounce on him, he immediately turned around and activated the blade in the mechanical gauntlet and stabbed the thing in the face. The view on the left also immediately rushed at him, the moonlight shining on him had killed a strange beast and was lifting it up. And not giving the thing a chance to attack him, he pointed his pistol at it and pulled the trigger. Before the beast had time to scream or roar, its face was crushed, its brain and flesh fell around and it was disgusting. Its blood splattered on the ground and splashed on the strange person. He then pulled the blade out of the beast he just killed and retrieved it into the gauntlet. The moonlight shined through the dead beast again, it was like a wolf but bigger than a human. Its four limbs and back have a shark fin-like part, its tail is long and sharp and the claws are equally sharp. Although the head had been stabbed, it had no eyes and had a long skull. Its whole body had skin like a black frog and was a really evolved and powerful body. After killing the two beasts, he reloaded the ammo then checked his left wristwatch. The wristwatch was powered by gears and resembles a clock in the steampunk era. It was one o'clock in the morning and he spoke for the first time, his voice very soft and calm:

"It's time, Leon should be coming."

Then he opened the cloak and inside were three syringes filled with a red liquid like blood. He took a syringe first and injected himself from the neck then put the empty syringe away. Suddenly two shadows shot out from the field at him. Two other monsters were rushing towards that warrior, he didn't worry at all and said calmly:

"But there's still a lot for me."

He immediately pointed his pistol at one and fired to kill it instantly. As for the other one, he rushed forward and grabbed it by the neck and activated the blade to cut off its head. Easily slaying the four monsters without difficulty, the warrior dragged the bodies of the four monsters to a pile of straw, then lit them on fire and burned them to ashes. The warrior then slowly walked away from the village as if he had never been here before.

After leaving the village for a while, far away, in a barren tree there was a horse waiting. The warrior checked his wristwatch again and said with boredom:

"Always late, but here he is."

In the mist, another mounted warrior approached him, who covered himself with a brown cloak and hid his face with a brown wool scarf as well. That warrior carried a special weapon behind him, a triple-bladed scythe. He rode up to the warrior and dismounted, then he said excitedly in a Scottish accent:

"Loi Jade! How are you tonight?"

The warrior showed his face, he looked very serious and cold with deep blue eyes. He was London's Ghosts number 3 monster hunter, code name The Mad Guy and named Jade Gemini. Jade just relaxed his neck a little and said a little tiredly:

"Lancer must have scared them off a lot last night, so it's a bit late tonight. But everyone's safe. Alright, I'll go back to the church to rest."

Jade's friend also revealed his face, he looked very young but had a few small scars on his face and had red hair with a few yellow strands and yellow eyes like a lion. He was London's Ghosts number 5 monster hunter, codename The Fire and his name was Leon Leo. Leon said excitedly:

"Aight, you go. Anyways, do I need to check somewhere?"

Jade got on her horse and replied:

"Don't worry, they know Lancer isn't hunting tonight. So you can slaughter them as you please."

Leon smiled arrogantly and said goodbye to Jade then continued his hunt. Jade just smiled lightly and rode back to the church or the base of his hunter force. Jade rode calmly crossed a long country road and in the distance, a large city gradually emerged from a thick fog, London City. This time in 1886 during the Victorian era, England had risen into a powerful British Empire with money and materials from across their vast colonies. The politics and society of England developed at the same time as the popularity and large part of steam technology brought about the most advanced machines. The world was entering a powerful steampunk age and changed technology forever. But this was also a dark period with the onslaught of monsters.

Jade rode across a stone bridge and into the city, nearby was the London Tower Bridge under construction. The whole city exuded an old, gothic and dignified look but also exuded modernity and development. And at the top of Big Ben's Clock Tower, someone was pointing a sniper rifle combined with special nitrogen technology at Jade. But he simply raised his hand to wave at the person as if he knew he was already there. The soldier put down his sniper rifle and revealed his plus-shaped left eye. His nose had a device for folding glasses down his left eye like a telescope for distant observation. The soldier smiled arrogantly and said:

"Just a little more and I'll have you."

He was London's Ghosts number 1 monster hunter, codenamed The Bullet and named Rake Aries. Rake pointed his gun in the other direction as if he had detected something. Jade rode deep into London and into the old town, where the fog was thickest and at the end of the road was an old church. Jade dismounted and brought it to a stable behind the church. Jade then entered the church from the back door and met Reverend Anthony Pattison, the church's vicar. As usual, he prayed very late at night and slept very little. Jade said nothing and snuck downstairs, but Anthony spontaneously spoke:

"How are you today, Jade?"

Jade stopped dejectedly and replied:

"Yes Father, I'm fine. I just need to shower and sleep."

Anthony continued:

"I don't think so, you were always the most complicated of your twelve brothers and sisters. And you and they never got along to work together."

Jade replied with a bit of boredom:

"You've talked about this a lot, I'm fine and let me handle my own problems. So good night Father."

Jade said nothing and went downstairs, and Anthony also turned off the candlelight, leaving a dark church. Beneath the church was an even larger room and this place was the main base of London's Ghosts, the monster-hunting force that protected London and England in the name of Queen Victoria. And they have twelve members and they were very... CHAOTIC. As soon as they opened the door to their main living room, Jade was immediately hurled by a mug ten centimeters away from his face. And before him was a chaotic and noisy scene of six people or his six teammates. One guy was trying to eat as much as he could while two other people were chasing him. Several girls were talking next to a large fish tank with a mermaid swimming inside. Jade said nothing and picked up the mug then went into the living room. A girl with two long white braids and blue eyes approached Jade and happily said:

"Hey Jade! Fun tonight?"

Jade just shrugged and replied:

"Not really? Is Hexor home yet?"

She just laughed and said:

"Hahaha! Hexor won't come back so I'll be the owner of this place!"

The girl with this terrible sense of humor was London's Ghosts number 6 monster hunter, codenamed The Lady and named Vyctoria Virgo. Jade tried to pass but Vyctoria blocked his way no matter how hard he tried to move. Jade simply took out a silver then gave it to Vyctoria and wearily said:

"Right, taxes for fatigue after each hunt."

Vyctoria just took the money and happily said:

"Thank you!"

Jade was just released and he went to get some water. Then Jade passed the mug over to the guy reading a book nearby and said:

"Hey Xiang, ice please."

Xiang was the only Chinese in an all-British team, he had Lapis blue hair and brown eyes. He was London's Ghosts number 11 monster hunter, codenamed The Winter and named Xiang Aquarius. Xiang simply touched the mug and the top of the water turned cold then he said in a cold voice:

"You're welcome."

Jade replied:

"Thanks too."

Jade then entered a deep corridor where six parallel rooms were located, which were the bedrooms of the members of London's Ghosts. Behind him, things were still very chaotic and this might be a normal thing here. Enter your neat and complete room with a bed, wardrobe, table and chair, books and private bathroom. Jade took off his cloak and cap and put it on the clothes rack. He then placed his weapon and syringe on the table. Continue to be belted with lots of equipment like gunpowder bags and iron balls. And finally oil-filled jars, smoke bombs, fire bombs and poison bombs. That was all Jade's equipment in a hunt. Then Jade looked up at his mirror that was split into twelve panes and suddenly, his face showed twelve panes of glass like twelve different people. Each of Jade's faces showed up with twelve different personalities, these were the twelve brothers and sisters that Jade was facing every day in his mind, the twelve personalities of Jade. They were Angry, Enthusiastic, Lazy, Arrogant, Gluttony, Funny, Smart, Sad, Weak, Lust, Hardworking and Main Jade and also the manager of them all, Casual. Then Jade took a shower and went to bed. Ended another hunt in his endless hunt until his death.

It was almost morning, and Rake stood upright and strong as he watched the sun slowly emerge across the sky and the city. Rake had seen the sun many times already and he couldn't help but be more overwhelmed by the sunrise. Later, from afar, Leon was riding his horse back to base and Rake also retreated to base. A new day in London started again. The people woke up and started their daily routine, the markets, ports and shops were crowded with customers and new goods. Officials and paperwork took a nearby tram to get to work. Huge and magnificent airships landed at the airport to prepare to guess the next arrivals. Factories emitted high levels of smoke from their industrial activities, and they soon produced good motor vehicles. The city was vibrant and bustling. The farmer woke up and started checking the wheat for damage from the monsters and a few miners got to work. They checked the pile of straw that had been prepared and were pleased that the hunters had killed so many monsters and burned them to protect them. No one was killed by the monsters last night.

Returning to Jade, he also only needed very little sleep and woke up. After that, he quickly cleaned himself and put on an elegant outfit like he was about to have a date with someone. Jade put on a top hat and looked like a gentleman. Then he left the room to go outside the church. At this time in the living room everyone was asleep, even the mermaid swam back to the room by a tube, except for Xiang who was still reading a book. Jade walked past him and said amicably:

"Good morning, I'm going to have breakfast. Tell Vyc or Jiin they don't need to prepare breakfast for me."

Xiang replied:

"Alright, morning too."

Jade then went up to the main room of the church and helped Anthony clean up for everyone to come to pray such as cleaning the hallway, opening the windows and lighting the candles. After they were done, they both said good morning and Jade walked somewhere. Walking on the lively streets of London, Jade blended into everyone's life like an ordinary person. He walked along the Thames, passed Big Ben and enjoyed the cool air. And Jade got to where he wanted to go, the Jour d'été (Summer Day) cafe. With a light, relaxed smile, Jade walked over to the cafe and sat at an outside table. He put his hat and gloves on the table and then a female employee stepped outside. She looked very gentle and friendly and smiled when she saw Jade like he was an acquaintance. The girl approached Jade and said friendlyly:

"Good morning Jade. You look healthy."

She poured Jade a cup of tea and he said friendlyly:

"Thanks Cecelia, you look very happy today too."

This brunette and blue-eyed girl was named Cecelia Wenderson and was the owner of the Jour d'été cafe. Then she said:

"So what do you want for breakfast?"

Jade replied:

"Ah yes, as usual, sandwich with ham, lettuce, tomato and cucumber. And a side of mashed potatoes, please."

Cecelia happily said:

"Okay, wait a moment, please."

Jade nodded and waited for Cecelia to prepare breakfast while he enjoyed his tea. Jade might have been cold-blooded, brutal and cold last night, but he could be so calm and cheerful like this. After a while, breakfast was served, and Jade thanked Cecelia and picked up a sandwich and cup of tea in his other hand. Then he enjoyed his breakfast in a new day.