Chapter 242: The Emperor's New Clothes

Suddenly, someone broke through the security perimeter. The security guards, treating this as a grave threat, immediately protected the leaders present. The remaining soldiers quickly contained the frenzied crowd, and order was swiftly restored after a brief loss of control—Katia was also restrained by two armed police officers.

Meanwhile, Wang Hongcheng was frowning as he watched Xu Mao and others causing a commotion in the crowd. His attention was suddenly caught by Katia, and his eyes lit up.

"Dr. Wang, I am willing to witness your experiment!"

Upon hearing Katia's call, Wang Hongcheng waved at the two armed police officers and walked over to her.

Katia, who had just desperately rushed into the open, stumbled and scraped her hand, her long lashes wet with tears. This delay had jeopardized Li Xian's plan, causing her anxiety.

However, from Wang Hongcheng's perspective, the situation looked different.

Seeing this exotic beauty from another country breaking through the security line and looking at him with admiration, Wang Hongcheng, a man with all his provincial indicators in check, couldn't hide his satisfaction.

"You're from Longjiang University?" He approached Katia, shook her hand, and asked.

"Yes, Dr. Wang! My name is Katia, and I come from Russia. I had heard about your achievements back in my country! I never expected to meet you in person today. It's truly exciting!"

Relieved that she had successfully breached the security line, Katia sighed and quickly got into character. Her unusually large eyes were filled with adoration.

"Hmm," Wang Hongcheng straightened his back unconsciously, "I'm also very honored to meet you, student. I heard you want to witness the experiment, so…"

At this point, Lin Zhengwei, the official from the National Defense Science and Technology Committee, who had been standing by, smirked and stepped forward.

"Dr. Wang, isn't this catalyst a national-level scientific achievement? Allowing a foreigner who hasn't undergone identity verification to handle it might be inappropriate."

For some reason, Lin Zhengwei's words always seemed to carry a hint of sarcasm when he spoke to or about Wang Hongcheng. This made Wang Hongcheng particularly uncomfortable.

He gave Lin Zhengwei a deep stare and waved his hand dismissively, "It's no problem. Since the public has raised concerns, to prove the fairness and objectivity of our experiment, let's find a witness."

He made a gesture for Katia to step forward, gave her a brief overview of the experiment, and handed her the small component, "After checking everything, put this catalyst on the engine of the Jeep on the left."

The component looked like a fuel injector, but unlike ordinary ones, it had a small glass bottle attached to it, containing a blue liquid.

"Alright!" Katia took the so-called catalyst with both hands, casting a glance at Lin Zhengwei, and inspected the fuel tanks and engine specifications of the three Jeeps before heading towards the left Jeep. After a moment of hesitation, she handed the component to the soldier, who installed it on the engine.

With the preparations complete, at the command of an on-site expert, the three Jeeps started simultaneously and sped towards the direction of Hegang.

The crowd, including dozens of leaders and thousands of onlookers, eagerly anticipated the results of the experiment.

After about half an hour, the three Jeeps returned.

The expert in a jacket hurried forward, carrying a spring scale similar to those used in markets to check weights, and weighed the fuel containers taken from each Jeep.

Soon, in front of reporters and all the leaders, he announced the weights loudly: "The Jeep on the left consumed 1.6 kilograms of fuel," "The middle Jeep consumed 2.2 kilograms," "The Jeep on the right consumed 5 kilograms!"

"The experiment was very successful. The Jeep using the water-based fuel showed a significant fuel-saving effect, with the one using the water-based fuel and Dr. Wang's latest catalyst achieving a 70% fuel-saving rate! The effect is very noticeable. Let's applaud!"

Applause erupted on the scene!

Seeing this, the students from Longjiang University were ecstatic: "The middle Jeep saved over 50% of fuel, and the left Jeep saved nearly 70%! It's unbelievable! Dr. Wang's new invention is amazing!"

Reporters, cameras and video recorders in hand, rushed to capture the scene, taking numerous photos of the fuel barrels placed in front of the three Jeeps.

The leader who arrived in the Audi 100 also appeared appreciative, shaking hands with and encouraging Wang Hongcheng before clapping.

However, at this moment, Katia, who had been standing near the starting point, suddenly burst into tears.

Her unexpected outburst startled the leaders, experts, and reporters present.

"Miss, please control your emotions and don't be too agitated," the expert in the jacket said with a smile.

To everyone's surprise, Katia knelt down, raising her hand high. "Oh my God! Oh my God! I made a big mistake. I was so scared earlier that I didn't dare to speak up. While examining the catalyst, I accidentally broke the bottle, and the catalyst spilled out… Fortunately, the experiment succeeded! Otherwise, I would be too ashamed to face Dr. Wang!"

Silence.

As Katia's sobs clearly reached everyone's ears, the entire scene fell into a chilling silence, as if under an ice spell.

Seeing the blue stains on Katia's raised hand, Wang Hongcheng, the expert in the jacket, and the elderly leader were all stunned.

Even the previously enthusiastic students from Black University, who had been like zealots encountering a bishop, were also stunned!

Only Lin Zhengwei, wearing the National Defense Science and Technology Committee nameplate, stared wide-eyed. After examining the materials on Katia's tear-streaked hand, he let out an ambiguous, sinister laugh.

"Haha!"

The silence lasted a long, long time.

After nearly half a minute, the expert in the jacket, who had been in charge of the "scientific experiment" from start to finish, finally with a dark expression, waved to the reporters still frantically taking photos, "The fuel-saving experiment is over! Please, leaders, return to the city!"

At this moment, those who had been shouting into the loudspeakers before exploded again: "Fraud! Fraud! This experiment is not scientific at all. The catalyst on the left Jeep was never installed. How can it save 70% of fuel?! Wang Hongcheng, you're a big fraud!"

With this loud cry, the scene erupted again.

"Fraud! Fraud!"

Hearing the chaotic and growing shouts, Wang Hongcheng felt disoriented.

Standing at the road entrance, he saw those holding loudspeakers and those dressed in tattered, laborer-like clothing shouting loudly.

The previously admiring students were now full of confusion and shock, while the Russian girl kneeling on the ground was at a loss.

The leader, who looked astonished and was hurriedly assisted into the Audi 100 and quickly left, also added to his confusion.

He felt like the world was spinning.

"Dr. Wang, this experiment is… interesting! When we return to the department, I'll make sure to promote it well."

At this moment, Lin Zhengwei from the National Defense Science and Technology Committee approached Wang Hongcheng and threw these words at him.

Wang Hongcheng shuddered, ignoring the chaos around him, and directly headed towards his vehicle.

"Fraud!"

"Fraud!"

Inside the car, hearing the thunderous shouts from outside, Wang Hongcheng's hands trembled. He dialed several numbers on his mobile phone, but all attempts failed.

...

Meanwhile, at Taiping Airport in Bingcheng, a team of experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences had just disembarked from the plane. After meeting with the provincial public security leaders who had come to greet them, they boarded a minibus.

"Academician He, we've already obtained the samples provided by Hongcheng Company, and the counterfeit materials collected from the market are also sealed in our department. How would you like to proceed? We will fully cooperate."

Facing the inquiry from the public security side, the leading expert, Academician He, nodded, "Let's start with an infrared spectroscopy analysis. First, confirm whether these so-called fakes are actually from Hongcheng Company."

"Alright. I'll arrange that immediately. However, in my personal view, this whole situation feels inherently suspicious. It seems more likely that these are fraudulent materials."

In response to the public security side's speculation, Academician He smiled and nodded, "Since the higher-ups have sent us here, they want us to use scientific methods to clarify the major 'water-to-oil' catalyst incident. So, we'll follow a scientific and rigorous process. Until we have results, please avoid making assumptions that could affect our judgment."

"Understood. We will cooperate."

The public security colleagues quickly agreed to the expert's request.