Luo Xingchao was well aware of the implications. Regardless of how important the position of the Director was held by this Japanese nobleman, the Director himself, as the third-ranking official of the Military Intelligence Bureau, held a high position and wielded great power. The extent of his influence and connections was immense. If anything went wrong, it would be a devastating blow to the entire country's intelligence agencies.

"Please rest assured, Chief, even if I am struck by sword and axe, or face eternal damnation, Xingchao will never reveal a single piece of your information!" Luo Xingchao stood at attention and answered solemnly.

Three days later, Kagesa Hiroki arrived in Shanghai and met with Fujiwara Tomohito. Both sides showed magnanimity and tolerance, and finally reached a consensus. Kagesa Hiroki promised that the Special Agent Headquarters would no longer be allowed to carry out smuggling activities in Shanghai.

Fujiwara Tomohito also backed down, returning the confiscated supplies and agreeing that the Special Agent Headquarters could continue smuggling operations in Hangzhou.

Anyway, the smuggling targets of the Special Agent Headquarters were the Kuomintang-controlled areas, so it didn't have much impact on the Fujiwara branch in Hangzhou.

It can be said that Fujiwara Tomohito made significant concessions to Kagesa Hiroki, which Kagesa Hiroki appreciated greatly. After all, he was the one who acted unfairly first, so getting this result was already quite good.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, more than a month has passed. After New Year's Day, it was already the beginning of 1941.

Inside a factory building in the Shanghai International Settlement, a secluded warehouse area was quiet and deserted, but the surrounding area was tightly secured and heavily guarded.

At this moment, several cars slowly drove up. The cars did not stop but drove directly into the warehouse gate. The cars stopped, and Ning Zhiheng stepped out of the car under the protection of the crowd.

Huo Yueze came to a wall, pushed open a hidden switch, and a steel plate silently rose from the ground, revealing a wide staircase. This was the only entrance to the underground banknote printing factory.

"This place is located in the center of our territory. It has been isolated and sealed off, and we have deployed enough guards, all of whom are our own team members. They are absolutely reliable. The technical workers are all working down here, isolated from the outside world, so there will be no leaks."

As Huo Yueze introduced the place, he led Ning Zhiheng down the steps to the underground floor. There was a large hall in the distance. After passing through the hall and entering the passageway, they went through several checkpoints and arrived at the innermost printing workshop.

This is the core area of ​​the banknote printing plant, where assembly line machinery is set up. Two state-of-the-art banknote printing machines are running continuously, and several banknote printing workers wearing masks are operating them diligently.

Lu Jingsheng, the intelligence captain in charge of management, saw Ning Zhiheng and the others enter and quickly went to greet them.

Huo Yueze asked, "Is everything alright? Report the progress to the section chief."

"Yes!" Lu Jingsheng answered, standing at attention.

"Everything is running smoothly now. One million ten-yuan notes have been printed, and two million five-yuan notes have been printed. There will be no problem printing five million by the end of this month."

Ning Zhiheng nodded and gestured, "Bring the finished product over here, let me take a look!"

Lu Jingsheng hurriedly turned around to get the money and placed the two stacks of banknotes in front of Ning Zhiheng.

Ning Zhiheng reached out and took a banknote, examining it closely. It was a ten-yuan banknote from the Central Reserve Bank of China, made of brand-new watermarked paper. The design of the banknote was very similar to that of the legal tender. The front featured a portrait of the former premier in the center, with the words "ten yuan" in large characters on both sides. A distinctive ink fragrance wafted from the banknote.

Ning Zhiheng nodded in satisfaction and instructed, "Bring the samples over."

Previously, He Siming brought out some completed samples of China Reserve Bank coins from the Yokohama Specie Bank's printing plant and handed them over to the intelligence department as a standard for identification.

Lu Jingsheng brought out another sample, and Ning Zhiheng carefully observed it for a long time. He couldn't find any difference, but he was still worried. Although his eyesight was excellent, he was far inferior to those professionals when it came to printing banknotes.

He continued, "Have experts compared them?"

“We’ve compared them! Master Yang said it’s exactly the same as the sample,” Lu Jingsheng replied.

Master Yang is the foreman here. He is an expert whom the intelligence department searched for in Jiujiang at great expense and hired at a high price. He was a master craftsman at the Nanjing Printing Factory and is a top expert in banknote printing with first-class professional skills.

"Um!"

Ning Zhiheng nodded and ordered, "Bring him here!"

Soon, Lu Jingsheng brought an elderly worker, about fifty years old with gray hair, to Ning Zhiheng. Ning Zhiheng asked, "Master Yang, can you guarantee that the Central Reserve Bank coins we print are exactly the same as those printed by the Japanese?"

Master Yang nodded confidently and replied, "Absolutely identical. The anti-counterfeiting level of China Reserve Bank coins is not high. Currently, it is still based on the distribution of raised dots on the watermark paper, which is easy for us to imitate, especially the most crucial template. It can be said that there is no deviation. The level of imitation is very high, almost as if it was carved by one person. The ink ratio is also exactly the same."