Chapter 47: Is This Reasonable?

Providing convenience for illegal and criminal activities—Huang Han was well aware of the offense.

Indeed, such a charge existed.

At best, it involved the disgorgement of illegal gains; at worst, it entailed criminal liability.

The crucial point was:

Was it really necessary to make a fuss over simply applying a protective film to a vehicle?

Faced with the superior's question, Li Zhonghai immediately offered an explanation.

"Chief! You have no idea, this kid applied a layer of protective wrap to an elderly mobility scooter!"

"So what?"

Huang Han wore a stern expression.

True.

Applying a protective wrap to a low-speed electric mobility scooter—often colloquially known as an "elderly joyride"—was a bit eccentric and excessive.

But the owner wanted it; was that any of your business?

"What law is broken by applying a protective wrap?"

Li Zhonghai explained, "It's different. That mobility scooter cannot be legally registered with license plates, making it illegal..."

Before he could finish.

Tan Linsheng let out a cough. "Why are you asking about that?"

You are just talking about useless details.

Is now really the time to discuss whether the mobility scooter is legal?

"Chief, it's like this."

Tan Linsheng personally took over the conversation.

"It is an absolute certainty that the vehicle in question was operating illegally."

"We need to gather and solidify the evidence, but Wei Xiu refuses to cooperate."

Having listened to Tan Linsheng's explanation, Huang Han zeroed in on the key issue. "Why can't you solidify the evidence?"

"Because the primary violation committed by that vehicle is speeding."

Huang Han remained unimpressed. "What of it? Don't you have speed cameras?"

"That's precisely the crux of the matter. We have cameras, but they can't capture it."

???

!!!

???

At these words, the three recently arrived leaders exchanged glances.

The atmosphere in the room froze instantly.

What do you mean they can't capture it?

Others might not understand, but the three of them understood all too well.

Two of them were top-tier scholars who had spent the better part of their lives studying electromagnetic signals.

One was a combat commander whose daily-used equipment relied entirely on electromagnetic signals.

They knew everything there was to know about speed-measuring cameras.

As long as a vehicle passed by, it was physically impossible not to detect it.

It had nothing to do with the model of the car.

It had nothing to do with the color of the car.

As long as there was sufficient physical volume, detection was a hundred percent guaranteed.

"Are you sure the cameras aren't broken?" Huang Han asked anxiously.

Li Zhonghai replied, "Definitely not broken. All four cameras failed to detect anything."

Zhao Minggao immediately chimed in, "Could it be a matter of insufficient wavebands?"

There were several types of speed cameras in domestic use.

The electromagnetic frequencies they emitted varied.

There were also performance differences.

If standard X-band or K-band radar was being used, one couldn't rule out the possibility of a few slipping through the net.

"Impossible."

Tan Linsheng shook his head firmly.

"Those four cameras are the latest model utilizing the Ka-band, installed only in the first half of the year."

Zhao Minggao's mind buzzed instantly.

Just as Tan Linsheng had stated,

Ka-band radar was already at the pinnacle of civilian applications.

A portion of it was even widely utilized in military fields.

Long-range program-guided radars and remote-sensing radars both operated within this waveband.

It possessed exceptional target discrimination capabilities.

Although there was still a slight gap compared to the S-band used for conventional aerial reconnaissance,

it was utterly impossible for it to make errors in speed measurement.

At this thought,

Old Zhao's mind went somewhat blank. "Why couldn't it be detected?"

Yang Chong explained, "Our municipal bureau invited you here precisely to help assist in investigating this matter."

"..."

Zhao Minggao fell silent.

If one were to analyze this matter from a technical standpoint,

there was only one possible explanation.

"Young man!"

Elder Zhao raised his head to look at Wei Xiu sitting across from him.

"Can that mobility scooter of yours turn invisible?"

Wei Xiu shook his head like a rattle-drum.

"You must be getting up there in age, sir, and your eyesight is failing."

"If mobility scooters could turn invisible, would the traffic police department still be able to catch them?"

"Anyone can see them."

Huang Han gave a cough. "You rascal, speak properly. Are we talking about that kind of invisibility?"

Needless to say,

there was something fishy going on here.

"With me here, no one can touch you. Just stick to the facts."

Hearing Huang Han's promise, Wei Xiu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It certainly felt good to have someone powerful sheltering you.

"Then I'll tell the truth."

"There's an old man named Yang in our town who bought a mobility scooter."

"Not only did the vehicle constantly break down, but it also couldn't go fast, so I just tweaked the speed a bit."

"That's quite reasonable, isn't it?"

Huang Han had also heard of things like mobility scooters.

To be fair,

in third-tier cities and vast rural areas, this type of transportation was mainstream.

Ordinary people had travel needs, yet they couldn't afford cars.

What else could you expect them to do?

Therefore, these vehicles had always hovered in a gray area—illegal, yet existing.

With this thought, Huang Han turned his gaze to Tan Linsheng.

"Captain Tan, I understand you have difficulties, but you must also consider the hardships of the common people."

"In my view, tweaking the speed and such really doesn't warrant making a federal case out of it."

Tan Linsheng grew anxious. "Chief, ask him—was it a normal kind of speed he tweaked it to?"

"How so?"

Li Zhonghai could no longer hold it in.

"Let me put it this way for you!"

"The motorcycles ridden by our motorcycle police have a top speed of 250 kilometers per hour, with a zero-to-one-hundred acceleration of 3.1 seconds!"

"And yet!"

"Our traffic police couldn't even catch a glimpse of that mobility scooter's taillights."

???

Huang Han failed to react for a moment.

What on earth?

A motorcycle couldn't catch up to a mobility scooter?

According to Li Zhonghai's account, wasn't this mobility scooter hurtling toward a speed of 150 or 160 kilometers per hour?

He immediately turned his head. "Wei Xiu?!"

Wei Xiu showed not a trace of panic, hitching a ride on Li Zhonghai's words.

"Exactly!"

"Precisely because my mobility scooter is fast,"

"I started thinking, it's not easy for the old gentleman to do farm work, what if he gets caught and fined?"

Zhao Minggao: "So...?"

"So I figured I'd just apply a protective wrap to it."

"The traffic police department wouldn't be able to detect it, and the old man wouldn't get fined."

"Everyone's happy, perfectly reasonable, right?"

Reasonable indeed!

As soon as Wei Xiu finished speaking, everyone fell into a depressed silence.

What divine logic!

He spoke as if he were entirely in the right.

Zhao Minggao was practically certain of the answer in his heart.

That protective wrap definitely did not come from a legitimate source.

Yet he found it hard to believe.

Consequently, he glared at Wei Xiu with burning intensity.

"This protective wrap of yours—couldn't possibly absorb electromagnetic signals, could it?"

"It absorbs a little bit, I suppose," Wei Xiu answered evasively.

"How much can it absorb? Is the reflectance 0.4?"

Zhao Minggao offered a median value.

Anything below this Radar Cross Section (RCS) could already be classified as stealth.

"I suppose so..."

Seeing that Wei Xiu couldn't give a definitive answer,

Elder Zhao asked again.

"0.2?"

Wei Xiu thought for a moment. "I haven't measured it specifically, but it should be around there."

"0.1?"

"I estimate it might be below 0.002."

As soon as Wei Xiu finished speaking,

the brains of Huang, Zhao, and Qin nearly exploded.

What level was 0.002?

It surpassed any stealth fighter currently in existence.

Even in an idealized laboratory setting, Zhao Minggao and Qin Xi wouldn't dare dream of producing such data.

No wonder!

No wonder Ka-band radar couldn't find it.

Even if millimeter-wave radar showed up, it would still be utterly useless!

If an aircraft had a reflective area of around 0.4,

it would at most appear as a blind spot on the most advanced millimeter-wave radar.

Yet if this aircraft possessed a reflective area of 0.002, the radar systems across the entire world would be completely blind.

The more one thought about it, the more terrifying it became!

Even without mentioning a mobility scooter speeding down the highway,

if this mobility scooter were to directly infiltrate Eagle Sauce's air defense system, they would be completely helpless.