Chasing Time

“Next, we have the most noble recipient of the Order of the Garter, the Grand Cross of Saint Michael and Saint George, the Grand Cross of the Bath, the Victoria Cross and the lower grades of Knighthood, the leader of the anti-colonial movement, the bell-ringer of the East India Company, the hero of the Crimean War, a Fellow of the Royal Society, a lifelong dear friend of literary giants such as Dickens and Great Dumas, a steadfast supporter of scientific luminaries like Faraday and Darwin, having served as assistant under-secretary, deputy under-secretary, and permanent under-secretary in departments of the Home Office and the Navy Department of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the inaugural Cabinet Secretary and head of the civil service, the first graduate and most distinguished alumnus of our school. Please welcome Sir Arthur Hastings to deliver a speech on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the University of London.”
Arthur's gaze swept across the crowd before him, looking at the young faces and murmured, “Agares, what do you think I should say?”
The Red Devil's wraith hovered behind him, saliva almost dribbling from the corner of his mouth, “Look at these ignorant souls; they still worship you as a hero. Why not say something they'd like to hear?”
Arthur took a deep breath and let out a deafening roar, “Oxford is a bunch of whores' bastards!”
“Oh!!!!”
The audience erupted into thunderous applause.
“Cambridge is the same!” he added immediately.
The applause grew even more fervent...
(The protagonist, possessed by a devil, travels through 19th-century Britain in a world without magic)

The Shadow of Great Britain

The cold wind, the pouring rain, lightning, and thunder.


Rainwater trickled between the bricks of the street, gathering into a babbling brook.


Louis Bonaparte stood under the shade of a tree, his black cloth umbrella raised as he looked up at the rain-drenched camphor tree overhead, lush with leaves. Through the gaps in the foliage, he could see an apartment not far away that offered a direct view over the Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park.


The apartment's windows were wide open, and there stood a man savoring a biscuit with his London evening tea, despite the rain.


Although his hands were wrapped in bandages, twined round and round like he had been severely hurt, this did not seem to affect his appetite.


Louis shook the water from his hair and, stepping in his boots, approached the attic below; he strode through a garden filled with onions, garlic, and other spices, and entered the apartment, ascending the staircase to the second floor.


Chapter 266: Pretend to Be Confused (4K7)