Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

In the DOA's underground interrogation room, the air seemed to freeze.

Behind the one-way mirror, Lu Chen leaned back on the sofa, his fingers rhythmically tapping the edge of the microphone. The monitor showed crystal-clear images. Although Ruan Wen was tied to a chair, her innate arrogance made her look less like a prisoner and more like a fallen queen.

"cooperate?"

Inside the interrogation room, after listening to what Fourth Brother (Rum) said, Ruan Wen's lips curled into a mocking smile.

She tilted her head slightly, a hint of disdain in her eyes. "Mr. Mask, I think you've misunderstood something. Our 'Painter' family never needs partners in business. We have our own channels, our own technology, and more importantly... we're not short of money."

"I admit, you've got some skills to capture me. But I advise you not to get any funny ideas. If I don't contact my team for more than 24 hours, you'll be in endless trouble."

"..."

Fourth Brother didn't say anything, he just looked at her quietly.

Ruan Wen sensed that the other party's silence indicated they were thinking, so he changed his tone, becoming gentler: "However, since I've fallen into your hands, I'll admit defeat to save my life. If you release me, I can give you a sum of money, a sum you could never spend in several lifetimes—guaranteed to be real money, how about it?"

She was testing the waters, using incentives as bait to try and take control of the conversation.

Behind the glass wall, Lu Chen smiled and gave instructions to his fourth brother.

Upon hearing the order, Fourth Brother held up a finger and gently shook it in front of him: "Miss Ruan, you seem to have missed the point. The fact that I was able to bring you out of that impregnable fortress of Lamma Island unscathed speaks volumes about our strength. So do you think we'd even bother with that little bit of money?"

Ruan Wen's expression stiffened slightly.

"If we're going to cooperate, then we need to be completely honest with each other."

Fourth Brother paced slowly around Ruan Wen, dropping a bombshell with each step. "For example, how about we talk about your background? How about your father who brought you into this profession—the 'painter' of the previous generation?"

When her father was mentioned, Nguyen Van's breathing visibly faltered.

"What do you want to say?" Her voice turned cold.

"People in the underworld say that your father had bad luck while doing business in Eastern Europe. He made a deal with someone and ended up being shot dead by those Russians."

Fourth Brother stopped behind Ruan Wen, leaned down, and whispered in her ear, "But is that really the truth? Miss Ruan, you should know better than anyone that it wasn't an accident at all. It was the Golden Triangle's big drug lord 'General' who bribed an insider close to your father in order to monopolize the market, and then hired Russians to do the dirty work."

"shut up!"

Ruan Wen abruptly turned her head, staring intently at her fourth brother, her eyes blazing with murderous intent. This was her deepest scar, the source of her motivation for revenge. The problem was that this matter was extremely secretive; apart from a few close confidants from back then, no one knew about it!

"Wait, I haven't finished yet."

Ignoring her anger, the fourth brother continued, "After Father died, you took over his mantle. To avenge our father and to revive the family business, you assembled your own team. Except for that printing plate maker Wu Xin who sells antiques in Macau..."

"And then there's your housekeeper, 'Hua Nu,' who grew up with you and is like a sister to you;"

"That seemingly simple-minded but actually highly skilled henchman, 'Bobby';"

"And that 'Four-Zai' who's in charge of external procurement and transportation..."

With each name that Fourth Brother uttered, Ruan Wen's face grew paler.

This is not only her team, but also her family, and her source of confidence.

"Who...who are you?"

When the last name came out of Fourth Brother's mouth, Ruan Wen's arrogant aura finally changed.

Fear, true fear, crept up her spine for the first time. The other party not only knew her past, but even knew every pore of her present. This meant that, if they wanted, they could uproot her entire team at any time.

Her previous threats were meaningless, even somewhat ridiculous.

"us?"

Fourth Brother straightened up, adjusted his suit collar, and said in a mysterious and authoritative voice, "We are ghosts, hunters, and the future rulers."

Our name is—the winery.

"winery……"

Ruan Wen muttered to herself, desperately searching her memory for the name, but to no avail. The fear of the unknown is often the most deadly, and this suddenly appearing mysterious force left her feeling utterly powerless.

Behind the glass wall, Lu Chen saw that the fire was almost done.

After the big stick has been used up, it's time to offer some sweet treats.

"Tell her what we can give her," Lu Chen ordered into the microphone.

Inside the interrogation room.

Seeing Ruan Wen on the verge of collapse, Fourth Brother suddenly softened his tone, as if a demon had sheathed its fangs and put on a gentleman's mask.

"Miss Ruan, don't be nervous. Like I said, we're here to cooperate, not to make enemies," Fourth Brother sat down across from Ruan Wen. "We know your current predicament. You've been holed up in that lousy place on Lamma Island not because you like living in seclusion, but because the development of your new US dollar bill is stalled, right?"

Ruan Wen remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

The new version of the US dollar (with Franklin's portrait) incorporates multiple anti-counterfeiting technologies, especially the color-changing ink and unique security thread, which even this former genius found helpless.

"You're missing three things right now."

Fourth Brother held up three fingers. "First, a genius artist who can perfectly replicate Franklin's portrait; second, color-changing ink and acid-free paper specially used by the US; third, a set of gravure printing presses."

These three things are precisely the Achilles' heel that has plagued Nguyen Van for so long.

"I don't believe you can get your hands on it," Nguyen Van sneered. "Acid-free paper is a controlled product, and only a few specific countries can produce it. Color-changing ink is top secret."

"I told you, you know nothing about us."

Fourth Brother shrugged, his tone as casual as if he were talking about cabbages at the market. "We've already found you that genius painter. He's a down-on-his-luck painter who's frustrated in his career, but his copying skills are unparalleled. We can bring him to you and make him your puppet 'painter' on stage, while you continue to be your behind-the-scenes queen."

"As for the color-changing ink and acid-free paper..." Fourth Brother paused, then said following Lu Chen's instructions, "We'll send you a batch next month, guaranteed authentic."

Actually, this is purely Lu Chen using his "omniscient and omnipotent" God's-eye view to cheat. In the movie "Project Gutenberg," Ruan Wen's team eventually obtained all these things. Although Lu Chen doesn't have them now, he knows where to buy them. Once he knows the channels, with DOA and Golden Harvest's current financial resources, intercepting them wouldn't be difficult.

"As for gravure printing presses..."

Fourth Brother shrugged. "That big guy is too conspicuous; you'll have to find it yourself. This is also a test of your abilities. We can't just feed you anything, can we?"

The truth is, Lu Chen really didn't know how to do this. In the movie, it was created during the chaos of the Eastern European upheavals, but the current timeline is still early, so he could only shift the blame to Ruan Wen.

Ruan Wen didn't doubt it; on the contrary, she thought it made perfect sense. If the other party had taken care of everything, how could she demonstrate her value?

Just then, a crisp notification sound rang in Lu Chen's mind.

【Ding--】

[Key plot character detected: Ruan Wen (the true painter)]

[Checking in at the movie "Project Gutenberg"]

[Check-in successful!]

[Reward: +1 Free Attribute Points]

Inside the interrogation room, Nguyen Van fell into a long silence.

She is a smart person.

The other side not only displayed overwhelming military force and intelligence networks, but also offered her irresistible bargaining chips. A genius painter, color-changing ink, acid-free paper... these were all indispensable pieces in her revenge plan.

Why?

After a long silence, Ruan Wen raised his head, looking directly at his fourth brother behind the mask. "Since you have such extraordinary abilities, even managing to procure acid-free paper, why don't you print it yourselves? If you print it yourselves, all the profits are yours; why share them with me?"

"Good question."

Fourth Brother laughed, his voice tinged with candor, "Because printing counterfeit money is a dirty job, and a deadly one. Printing counterfeit money is extremely profitable, but it will also make you a thorn in the side of the US intelligence agencies. The CIA, the FBI, and all sorts of organizations, whether you call them or not, will be relentlessly pursuing you, so we need a white glove."

Fourth Brother stared into Ruan Wen's eyes. "A professional, ambitious, and intelligent glove."

Having said that, Ruan Wen finally understood.

The other party wanted to work behind the scenes, to be the landlord collecting rent, and made her work at the front desk.

"Ha, since you've said that, why should I become your scapegoat?" Ruan Wen asked coldly, her last act of defiance.

Fourth Brother shook his head: "It's alright, listen to our cooperation terms first."

"First, we give you maximum autonomy. How to print, where to print, how to manage your team—we won't interfere at all."

"Secondly, we will not only provide raw materials and protection, but also become your largest customer. Our distillery will buy up all the counterfeit US dollars you print on a large scale at a ratio of one to five (one real bill for five counterfeit bills). We will buy as many as you have."

"We only want priority supply rights. As for the remaining production capacity, you are free to sell it to whomever you want—provided, of course, that it can only be sold to Japan, Europe, or the United States."

These conditions are unbelievably generous.

"That sounds really good... but what do you need so many fake US dollars for?" Ruan Wen couldn't help but ask.

"You don't need to worry about that." Fourth Brother smiled meaningfully.

Behind the glass wall, Lu Chen looked at the night outside the window, his eyes flashing with a crazy light.

What for? To harvest the韭菜 (leeks, a metaphor for exploiting others) of our wealth, of course!

Japan is currently on the eve of the collapse of its bubble economy, but it is also at its most frenzied stage. Lu Chen plans to use this batch of "super dollars" that can even fool banknote detectors to flow into Japan on a large scale through underground channels to acquire high-quality assets, purchase precision manufacturing industries, and even invest in future technology unicorns.

Using counterfeit money to buy real assets—this is the "generous gift" Lu Chen prepared for the Japanese.

Ruan Wen closed his eyes and weighed the pros and cons in his mind.

Revenge requires money, and rebuilding her counterfeit money empire also requires resources. And this mysterious "drinkhouse" before her, though dangerous, is indeed a powerful force she has never seen or heard of before.

Moreover, the other party knew all her secrets, so she had no right to refuse.

"Alright. I promise you, as long as you keep your promise, I, Ruan Wen, am willing to be the white glove."

"very good."

Fourth Brother nodded in satisfaction and walked behind Ruan Wen.

"Click."

The dagger slashed, and the rope snapped.

Ruan Wen rubbed her reddened wrists and slowly stood up. Although she looked a little disheveled, her aura as the "Queen of Counterfeit Money" was quickly returning.

Fourth Brother handed her the red wine.

"Welcome to the brewery."

Fourth Brother raised his glass, a hint of a smile in his eyes beneath the mask. "In this organization, everyone has a code name."

"Miss Ruan, you are like a drug, both addictive and deadly, ever-changing and unpredictable... So from today onwards, your code name will be—Absinthe (Vermouth)."

Ruan Wen took the wine glass, looked at the scarlet liquid inside, and a bewitching smile appeared on his lips.

"Vermouth... I like this name."

"bite--"

Two wine glasses clinked gently in the air, making a crisp sound.