He had just married a policewoman when he was diagnosed with criminal genius.

The engine roared, and the machine, which had previously shaken like a Parkinson's patient, was now running extremely smoothly, with a deep and powerful sound.

Tang Sancheng quickly stepped forward and used a dial indicator to measure it. The error was infinitely close to zero, so the dial indicator couldn't detect it.

This left even the proudest Tang San dumbfounded.

This kind of skill of adjusting large machinery by ear and touch can only be possessed by top-notch master craftsmen who have spent years in the workshop. How could Lu Chen, a young man, know this at such a young age?

And most importantly, how did he know that the intaglio printing machine was faulty?

Tang Sancheng asked, puzzled, "How did you know there was something wrong with this gravure printing machine?"

Lu Chen smiled and said, "I saw the counterfeit banknote samples that Director Ding gave me yesterday."

The workshop was so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat. The four men looked at each other, their initial disdain turning into awe.

Just from the samples of counterfeit money they produced, it was clear that their machines were faulty.

Thinking about this, the group of people all felt a chill run down their spines.

What an amazing person this is!

In all their years in the business, they had never seen such a skilled counterfeit money expert.

Tang Sancheng seemed to have just realized something, and his voice carried a hint of urgency: "Then—did you also provide the formula for the color-changing ink?"

Before he finished speaking, the other three people all stared at the excessively young Lu Chen.

Lu Chen smiled slightly, without opening his pocket, but that smile carried more weight than any answer.

it is more than words.

Lu Chen became increasingly mysterious in their eyes.

Beneath their youthful faces, it seemed, lay something they could never understand, something they had spent half their lives trying to comprehend.

After a few seconds of silence.

Tang Sancheng took off his glasses, wiped them, put them back on, and bowed solemnly to Lu Chen: "Engineer Lu, we were blind to your greatness. I admit it. I will follow your instructions and will not cause any trouble."

Old Chen also put away his roguish air and muttered in a rare serious tone, "Fine, I can't beat him, I admit it."

The other two: "Engineer Lu!"

The fact that they addressed him as "Engineer Lu" proved that they acknowledged Lu Chen's abilities.

Ding Jianguo, who was watching from the side, was full of surprise.

Unexpectedly, Lu Chen was able to subdue these troublesome prisoners so quickly.

He was initially worried that Lu Chen wouldn't be able to command these people.

This performance greatly increased Ding Jianguo's confidence in Lu Chen.

Lu Chen waved his hand: "Just call me Xiao Lu."

"In that case, I'll be in charge of this room for the next few days, so you can quickly get your sentences reduced through good deeds."

The four people looked at each other and then nodded silently.

"Let's begin!" Lu Chen withdrew his gaze and uttered five words crisply.

……

Inside the temporary workshop.

Lu Chen took out all the tools needed to draw the master copy of the counterfeit banknote.

The four looked at Lu Chen in front of the table and asked:

"Mr. Lu, are you really going to hand-draw the master template for counterfeit banknotes?"

Lu Chen nodded: "Yes, hand-drawn master templates are the best solution for us right now."

"Hiss!" Upon hearing Lu Chen's words, everyone gasped in unison.

They didn't expect that Lu Chen would actually choose to draw the counterfeit banknote master plate by hand, just as they had thought.

Instead of the simplest option they opted for, they used a scanner.

"While machine scanning is simple and quick, it inevitably produces moiré patterns, which greatly reduces the sophistication of counterfeit banknotes."

"This problem doesn't occur with hand-drawn illustrations."

The four remained silent. They naturally knew that scanning would inevitably produce moiré patterns, while hand-drawing could completely avoid them, provided that someone could complete the master copy perfectly.

To complete the design of a single banknote of the Xia Kingdom, it would take approximately 30,000 engravings.

Thirty thousand cuts, each one precise and flawless—the difficulty of that is unimaginable.

Is it possible for someone to complete this in a short period of time?

Although they had just been impressed by Lu Chen's skills, they still did not believe that Lu Chen could complete the drawing of the master copy by hand.

Lu Chen didn't care about the surprised looks from the others.

Instead, he started assigning tasks, as he was now short on time and had a heavy workload.

They had to race against time. While Lu Chen was drawing the master copy, Lao Chen and the others also had tasks to complete.

"Old Chen, you'll be in charge of the offset printing after the master plate is made, and you'll also be responsible for making the windowed lines. Later on, we'll need to embed the windowed lines into the banknotes."

"Tang Sancheng, you'll be in charge of the gravure printing after the offset printing. Before that, I need to modify the gravure printing machine. Single-sided gravure printing is too slow. Changing it to double-sided will save a lot of time."

Lu Chen spoke quickly, "But before the modification, some preparatory work needs to be done, so you need to prepare first."

"..."

Everyone was assigned a task.

Lu Chen walked to the worktable, took a deep breath, and slowly closed his eyes.

With the help of god-level counterfeit money making technology, he seemed to have truly become a master craftsman who had been immersed in this field for decades. He knew the direction of every line and the transition of every shadow on Xia Guo's banknotes like the back of his hand.

"Let's begin!" Lu Chen opened his eyes, his gaze calm and focused.

He picked up a sharp carving knife and sketched the first line on the prepared carving board.

The lines were straight and smooth, without the slightest hesitation, as if they had already been etched into his muscle memory.

The four people watching from the side did not immediately complete the task assigned by Lu Chen.

After all, they are currently only involved in the later stages of the process. If there is a problem with the most important part of drawing the master copy, which Lu Chen is responsible for, then there is no need for them to waste time.

They initially approached the situation with some scrutiny and skepticism.

But the moment they saw Lu Chen put pen to paper, their pupils constricted in unison—the strength, angle, and depth of the lines were terrifyingly precise.

"This..." Tang Sancheng subconsciously took a step forward.

Lu Chen ignored the commotion behind him.

With a steady movement of his right hand, the carving knife flew across the metal plate.

He first sketched out the overall outline of the banknote, and then began to deal with the intricate and daunting details.

Every part is as precise as if it had been measured with a ruler.

A moment later, Lu Chen switched to a finer engraving knife and began to draw the microtext on the banknotes. The text was so small on real banknotes that it required a magnifying glass to observe, but Lu Chen seemed to have microscope-like vision.

Each stroke is clear and distinct.

The four people behind him all opened their mouths slightly in unison.

They remembered seeing a news story before – about a legendary figure in the United States known as the "Godfather of Counterfeit Money".

With just a magnifying glass and a carving knife, one can hand-draw a US banknote that is so realistic it's indistinguishable from the real thing.

But Lu Chen's speed and precision were even faster and more accurate than what the "Godfather of Counterfeit Money" had described in the news.

"Judging from Lu Gong's skills, it's quite possible that he'll finish the master drawing soon," Old Chen murmured in admiration.

"Quiet," Tang Sancheng whispered, "Don't disturb Engineer Lu. Once this work starts, you have to be fully focused. Otherwise, if you lose focus even for a moment, all your efforts could be wasted."

The four people surrounded Lu Chen from behind, not daring to breathe loudly, for fear of disturbing him.

A moment later, they quietly dispersed, each going to prepare for the tasks Lu Chen had previously assigned them.

all day.

From dawn till late at night, Lu Chen hardly ever left that worktable.

When the last line is drawn, when the last miniature text is completed.

Lu Chen finally straightened up; the long hours spent hunched over his desk had caused his cervical spine to crack slightly.

His wrists were a little sore, but as he looked at the completed master copy, a satisfied smile slowly crept onto his lips.

"It's done!"