The Shadow Tycoon
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 19: Faces Caught on Film
The Baler Federation IRS was the first authority department to use photosensitive materials in investigative work. It raised eyebrows, but that was simply how it was.
Ever since the mercury lamp was invented, certain photosensitive materials and their effects had mainly been used in the printing and dyeing industries. The IRS and the Federation Mint also used large quantities of these photosensitive materials, so much so that people sometimes failed to realize that the cash and coins in their hands had, in fact, already been thoroughly marked.
And those marks, with nothing more than a simple pass beneath an ultraviolet lamp, would be fully revealed.
He was very satisfied. There were no marks on this batch of coins, which meant no one was currently moving against him.
William had considered this problem. He used the method of putting himself in the other side’s place. Suppose he were from the IRS and now wanted to catch William by the tail, then what method would be most likely to succeed?
The answer was simple. Use a batch of means approved by the Federation FBI or the Sabine City judicial system to “dye” certain coins, then send them into William’s hands through certain channels, and from him let them flow into Mr. Fox’s laundromat.
At that point, neither William nor Mr. Fox would be able to explain why so many secretly dyed coins had appeared there. The authorities would only need to alter the dates on certain key pieces of evidence, and everything would be done.
The entire criminal chain would be complete, allowing them to sweep these people up in one stroke. Of course, this was only the simpler method, but the simpler something was, the more effective it often became. That was how William saw it himself.
Whether it was “himself,” a high school graduate who had only just entered society, or Mr. Fox, who had spent some time struggling through society yet still possessed little real wisdom, neither was a match for technological progress.
They would not know that the money in their hands had been marked until they appeared in court. Only then, perhaps, would they understand why they had fallen.
William turned off the ultraviolet lamp, scratched his head, poured the coins into another iron box, then picked up a small bucket and poured cleaning agent over them.
Some marks could be revealed through ultraviolet light. Others needed different methods to turn them from hidden to visible. Solving them was actually simple too: chemical cleaners.
Whether they existed or not, and whether doing this was effective or not, at least William did not think he was being excessively cautious. Or rather, every transaction that might put him in prison for life had to be treated with caution, and excessive caution at that.
After finishing all this, he poured some of the coins onto a screen and waited for them to dry before preparing to go out. He still had a few things left to do, such as getting a coin sorter.
Since this was a legal business exploiting a loophole in the law, then it naturally had to look more formal. Sorting the coins would make everything appear more proper.
Sabine City had quite a few blacksmith shops. In the eyes of many people, something as “medieval” as a blacksmith shop should not still exist in a modern metropolis. But in reality, every city had many blacksmith shops, and their business was quite good.
On one hand, the more developed a society became, the more it produced certain anti-intellectual crowds that made people question life three times over. They firmly believed that metal goods made through purely handmade metallurgical forging were more useful than products made by emotionless machines, because those handmade goods contained the spirit of the craftsman...
On the other hand, not everyone had enough budget to open a mold for a certain item. They did not need piles of products, only one. That gave blacksmith shops the necessity to continue existing.
There were several blacksmith shops around William’s warehouse office. By staying slightly farther from downtown, they could avoid harassment from the environmental department while also saving a great deal on rent.
After William asked three blacksmith shops in a row, and all the blacksmiths said they had never heard of a “coin sorter,” much less had a ready-made product, William realized he had neglected something else: filing a patent.
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