Codename: Patricide

An alternate, parallel Republican-era China. Traditional Eastern underworld culture clashes fiercely with social ideas born of the Western Industrial Revolution. Modern inventions such as electric lights, telephones, and automobiles are beginning to appear, but society is still controlled by deeply entrenched great families, warlords, and secret organizations.

Why are seven assassins so willing to raise a "child," enduring day after day, and even longing to be killed by them?