Based on what Fatty Long explained, Wang Zhuo judged that the videos in which he had been secretly filmed were very clear, likely not transmitted via an analog signal. A sudden idea struck Wang Zhuo, prompting him to ask, "If I wanted to record for over three hours, using multiple cameras, demanding high image quality, and maintaining complete secrecy, how would I go about it?" "Then there are many issues to consider," Fatty Long enumerated on his fingers.

"Over three hours necessitates sufficient power supply. A pinhole camera alone requires at least a thousand milliamp-hour lithium battery.

For clear video, flash memory cards are best. If using digital wireless transmission, the receiving distance is quite limited, and the power consumption instantly skyrockets—lithium batteries would almost certainly fail.

And then there’s the covert aspect..." He rambled on for ages, but Wang Zhuo finally understood: the kid was clearly devoted to these matters, delving into them constantly. He spoke about related items as if they were old friends.

If he set up a stall in an electronics market selling this gear, he’d be an absolute master. The two walked and talked, soon arriving at a leisure street beside the Huangjiang River.

What puzzled Fatty Long was that Wang Zhuo parked the car in front of a coffee shop, only to lead him fifty meters on foot to a four-star hotel named Hong Dao. Leading Fatty Long to the reception desk, Wang Zhuo requested Room 1116.

The receptionist checked and informed him that the room was occupied and hadn't checked out yet. "What about the room next door?" Wang Zhuo asked.

After checking again, the receptionist smiled politely, "I apologize, sir, the guests in 1114 and 1118 are with the guest in 1116; they are all booked until the day after tomorrow." "How about the rooms across the hall, 1115 and 1117?" Fatty Long interjected. "No one is currently booked in those two," the receptionist replied with a smile.

"If you wish to stay, we can process the check-in immediately." Wang Zhuo nodded instantly: "Good, we'll take 1115." "Sir, just one room, 1115, correct?" The receptionist felt the need to confirm, as these were all rooms with large beds, perhaps unsuitable for two men. "Yes, just one," Fatty Long affirmed with a nod.

The receptionist didn't think much of it; perhaps they were renting the room for others, or perhaps only one person would stay—what did it matter to her? "Oh, right, just book it for a three-hour hourly rate is fine," the stingy billionaire added.

After the room was registered under Fatty Long’s ID, the two headed upstairs with the key cards. The three receptionists exchanged glances, wondering if these two were truly the legendary 'Glass Shards' men.

Wang Zhuo and Fatty Long were oblivious to the misunderstanding their short stay created. Upon reaching 1115, Fatty Long opened the door, and Wang Zhuo immediately went to knock on the door of 1116.

While handling the paperwork downstairs, he had already used his X-ray vision and seen three middle-aged women inside 1116 playing the card game Dou Dizhu, which was why he requested the hourly room. Had 1116 been empty, he would have had to wait for the right moment, not knowing how long that might take.

As soon as the three aunties opened the door, Wang Zhuo fabricated a story about losing something valuable that might have fallen into their room. He produced six hundred yuan, explaining it was to treat them to a nice meal and only needed two or three hours of privacy.

Six hundred yuan wasn't a large sum for aunties who could afford a four-star hotel, but since the young man asking the favor showed sincerity, they were happy to oblige. They gathered their belongings, moved them to the adjacent room, reminded Wang Zhuo to leave the room key with the front desk afterward, and went downstairs shopping.

Once the three aunties were gone, the two entered the room. Wang Zhuo turned back, double-locked the door, and engaged the security chain.

"I get it," Fatty Long whispered slyly. "Someone frequently stays in this room, and you want to secretly film them, so you brought me here first to scope out the territory and prepare the tools?" Fatty Long’s guess was plausible, but since his premise was about filming others, his conclusion was entirely off the mark.

"Here, and here, here, here," Wang Zhuo ignored him, pointing to four spots. He spoke in a low voice, "Pinhole cameras were installed in these four locations before, but they might have been removed.

We have three hours. Help me look for clues—see if we can trace this back to the person filming." Fatty Long then realized his guess was completely wrong.

They weren't here to film others; Wang Zhuo had been the target of hidden cameras, and they were here to find leads. The fat fellow immediately grew excited—a real-life detective show!

How thrilling! At that moment, Wang Zhuo had already moved the table to a corner of the room, placed a chair on top of it, climbed up, and carefully detached the smoke detector.

The smoke detector was a small, circular appliance mounted on the ceiling for fire alarms, containing some internal circuitry. After taking it down, the two examined it briefly and spotted two short pieces of electrically conductive wire cleanly snipped near the solder points, with fresh cuts visible.

Fatty Long immediately asserted, "That's the 220V entry point. These two wire ends were soldered on later.

It seems the pinhole camera was installed right here." Wang Zhuo inquired, "Meaning this pinhole camera was externally powered, using the room's 220-volt supply?" "Exactly. Someone added a parallel circuit to the smoke detector's power input.

As long as the detector is energized, this pinhole camera can run continuously." "How long can the largest flash memory card record?" Wang Zhuo asked after a moment of thought. Fatty Long glanced at him and gave a wry smile, "Boss, I need to see the video files before I can analyze it." Wang Zhuo hesitated, then shook his head.

"Then explain the situation, and I'll analyze it myself." "Let me put it this way," Fatty Long said. "For the most common pinhole equipment on the market, recording one hour of video takes about 1.5GB of storage.

The camera pen I gave you is like that. You compare the clarity of the recording first, then I can help you analyze." "The two are comparable, but the resolution recorded in this room is finer, almost matching the output of a premium mobile phone," Wang Zhuo reported.

"Then the pinhole camera used here is more advanced. I estimate it’s one of two possible system setups," Fatty Long continued without explaining what the 'setups' meant.

"If someone was secretly filmed here for over three hours, there should be plenty of clues." "Go on," Wang Zhuo nodded, turning to check the other two spots where cameras had potentially been hidden: the television and the air conditioner. Being prepared, he reached behind his waist and pulled out a small electrician's kit.

He turned the television slightly and deftly began disassembling it with a Phillips screwdriver. "There are two possibilities now.

One: the smoke detector holds a self-recording system. Its motion detection activates whenever someone moves in the room, starting the recording.

When the room is still, it stops. Using a 16GB card, it could record for over ten hours.

If the room is unoccupied, it wastes no space; if someone stays, it records for one to three days." "Motion detection? Is that feature advanced?" Wang Zhuo frowned.

Fatty Long chuckled, "It only requires adding a few lines of code to the chip. For a pinhole camera, this cost is almost negligible." "Then if they used a 32 or 64GB card, couldn't it record for a week?" Wang Zhuo asked, as this directly impacted the difficulty of catching the culprit.

"That's true, but the chip solution supporting cards larger than 16GB is only one type, and it’s not very stable when working, so the possibility is low," Fatty Long quipped. "Besides, 32GB or 64GB cards aren't cheap—four of them would cost over a thousand yuan.

Moreover, the person filming might not have just one hook. If they use several sets of such equipment, the cost becomes too high, plus there are other hassles." "What hassles?" Wang Zhuo asked while placing the removed TV back cover aside.

"Heh, Boss," Fatty Long said with a fawning look. "Tell me honestly, were you opening a room here with some girl and got secretly filmed?" "Keep talking, what hassles?" Wang Zhuo gave him tacit confirmation.

Fatty Long smugly shook his head and pontificated, "The hassle is that if video is recorded onto a flash card, you need to dismantle the device to see if you caught anything. This requires frequently entering the room, making it easy to leave traces!" That dead fat man has brains, Wang Zhuo thought, giving him an approving look, encouraging him to continue with his eyes.

"Furthermore, judging by the installation points of these hidden devices, they were definitely installed by a professional. Such professionals must have the matching technical capability, so they absolutely wouldn't use flash cards but must rely on wireless signal transmission." By now, the TV's internal components were exposed to them.

Near the power supply solder points, there were two close-together shear marks. Below the screen, in an indentation on the casing, a small hole had been pricked with a heated needle, perfectly positioned to be hidden under the screen's lower edge, completely invisible from the front.

"I understand now," Wang Zhuo said, placing the screwdriver down on the table, his eyes darting rapidly as he analyzed. "Since these hidden devices tap into the room’s existing wiring, they don't care about the power draw for signal transmission.

And just as you said, if flash cards were used for filming, frequent entry into the room would be necessary—only an insider could manage that, and it would be easy to expose themselves. But if they use wireless signals, it’s a permanent solution.

They can wait until they receive a valuable wireless signal before resorting to blackmail." "I hadn't considered the insider angle," Fatty Long exclaimed, slapping his fist into his palm excitedly. "If the people installing these things are hotel staff, then using flash cards would indeed work." "Wireless signals don't travel far, right?" Wang Zhuo’s primary concern surfaced.