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

His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake.

It instantly startled the few people behind him who had been waiting anxiously all day.

They had witnessed Lu Chen's steady and rapid technique.

But I didn't expect Lu Chen to complete the drawing of the master version so quickly.

A whole day, 30,000 cuts—the carving knife must be sparking by now.

Although the four of them were doing their work methodically according to Lu Chen's instructions, they kept glancing in Lu Chen's direction from time to time.

Therefore, the four of them rushed up at almost the same time.

Tang Sancheng was afraid of damaging the master copy, so he examined it carefully, as if holding a rare treasure.

Nervously pressing together under the light, the four of them began to gaze at the edge of the master copy.

He scanned inch by inch the intricate lines and patterns that were breathtakingly precise.

"Engineer Lu... the processing of this mesh is just too exquisite." Tang Sancheng's eyes widened.

He gently ran his fingers across the engraved board, feeling the depth and direction of the indentations.

"That's amazing! The lines are so well-spaced and the transitions are so natural." Old Chen exclaimed in amazement, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

After a long while.

The four of them had examined the master copy more than a dozen times, and compared it with genuine Xia Guo banknotes, they found no difference whatsoever.

Old Chen said in an almost trembling voice, "Damn, they actually completed the master drawing in one go."

"Awesome! Engineer Lu is amazing!"

"I'm truly impressed. To be able to complete the drawing of Xia Kingdom's banknotes in one go, with not a single mistake, is truly amazing. I've never heard of such a thing before." Tang Sancheng's eyes were also full of disbelief.

"I've been doing this for twenty years, and I've never seen such craftsmanship."

"I reckon only one company in Xia Kingdom, and only Lu Gong, could produce counterfeit money like this!"

While the group showered them with praise, they were also starting to feel a bit overwhelmed.

With skills like Lu Chen's, he seems to deserve to be in prison more than they do.

The four people surrounded the master template, looking at it from all angles. The more they looked, the more astonished and convinced they became.

Lu Chen rubbed his sore wrists and said with a faint smile, "I'm just cramming at the last minute."

Old Chen broke down and said, "Engineer Lu, please don't be modest. The more modest you are, the more incompetent we seem."

"Exactly. If this master copy were used for printing, the finished product would be able to fool at least 99% of the people on the market. I doubt even bank employees would be able to detect the problem."

The other three nodded in agreement.

They could produce something like this even with last-minute cramming; they wondered what kind of counterfeit money Lu Chen could make if he were serious.

Lu Chen shook his head: "Since the counterfeit money we're making is meant to lure out criminal groups, it's not good if it's too realistic."

"The genuine product only needs to be slightly better than the counterfeit money currently on the market."

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

The others understood Lu Chen's meaning: if the counterfeit money they printed was too realistic, it would truly be indistinguishable from the real thing.

That would probably be a bigger problem.

"Moreover," Lu Chen smiled, "in order to recall the counterfeit money we printed later, I also made a hidden mark."

According to Lu Chen's proposed plan, although these counterfeit bills are "bait," they will be retrieved later.

Therefore, Lu Chen deliberately made a hidden mark on this master version that only he knew about.

The main reason he had the four of them check the master template was to see if they could spot the markings they had made.

If they can't tell the difference, then the rampant counterfeit money gang in Jiangbei City is very likely to be unable to tell the difference either.

Sure enough, none of the four noticed.

Everyone was startled; they had looked at it many times but hadn't noticed anything wrong.

Now Lu Chen is actually saying there are markings on the master copy.

The group found it unbelievable.

"The mark? Where is the mark?" Old Chen leaned closer and asked with a face full of curiosity.

Lu Chen picked up the master copy and gently tapped it in an inconspicuous little corner.

The four of them crowded around, stared at each other for a long time, but couldn't figure out what the problem was.

Tang Sancheng took out a magnifying glass and searched inch by inch.

A moment later, Tang Sancheng's pupils suddenly contracted.

"I see it, I see it, there's a character '陆' here."

"No, no, Lao Tang, can you point it out to us..."

As Tang Sancheng pointed it out, everyone took turns grabbing the magnifying glass to take a look.

After reading it, the group of people all gasped in shock.

To be honest, if Lu Chen hadn't told them...

They searched carefully with a magnifying glass, but they couldn't find it. There was actually a character "陆" here.

This marker is far too small.

So small that it's almost hidden among the patterns and lines, as if it were born part of the design itself.

This isn't marking; it's clearly showing off.

Tang Sancheng put down the magnifying glass, shook his head with a wry smile: "Engineer Lu, I'm really impressed by your work. In all my years of doing this, this is the first time I've seen someone carve characters so small and hide them in the patterns without leaving a trace."

Lu Chen smiled, said nothing more, and carefully put away the master copy.

Lu Chen was going to hand it over to Ding Jianguo later. He dared not take this out, much less let Tang Sancheng and the others hold it.

"Alright, that's all for today."

"We'll continue tomorrow. The rest of the work will proceed as we discussed before."

"Understood!" the four replied in unison.

Just then, the door to the workshop warehouse was pushed open, and Ding Jianguo strode in.

He also received news that Lu Chen had completed the master copy.

Lu Chen handed over the completed master engraving to Ding Jianguo for safekeeping.

He examined it carefully under the light for a while, and his brows gradually relaxed.

"Looks good." He carefully put away the master copy and looked at Lu Chen: "It's much more authentic than those fakes on the market."

Looking back now, asking Lu Chen for help was definitely the right decision.

……

The next morning.

Lu Chen returned to the warehouse.

At this moment, Tang Sancheng and his group arrived at the workshop early, and Old Chen was also debugging the small offset printing machine.

Upon seeing Lu Chen enter, he immediately went to greet him.

"Mr. Lu, I've checked the machine, there's nothing seriously wrong with it!"

Lu Chen nodded and checked it.

"The gap between the rollers needs to be reduced, and the inking system also needs to be recalibrated."

"Okay!" Old Chen said readily.

Tang Sancheng also said, "Engineer Lu, everything needed for the gravure printing machine modification is ready."

"Do you see any problem?"

Lu Chen walked up to the machine and glanced at it briefly.

"No problem, you'll be my assistant as we modify the gravure printing machine," Lu Chen said calmly.

"Okay, okay!" Tang Sancheng nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

This is a double-sided gravure printing machine.

In all his years of work, Tang Sancheng had never seen a double-sided gravure printing machine.

There are only single-sided gravure printing machines on the market. The only double-sided gravure printing machine in the Xia Guo central bank is a technology that has only been developed in recent years.

How could he not be excited that they were actually going to modify a temporary double-sided gravure printing machine?

Seeing that Tang Sancheng could assist Lu Chen.

The others also showed expressions of envy.

Lu Chen rolled up his sleeves and walked to the old single-sided printing press.