Chapter 144: Huaxia's Importance!

As Zhou Yun's voice fell, the two team captains were instantly struck with shock.

Their disbelief was written all over their faces!

After a long while, Chen Xiong spoke slowly: "Was all of this planned by him in advance?"

Zhou Yun nodded without saying a word.

Having received a definitive answer, the two team captains sitting across from him fell into deep thought once again!

Neither of them spoke.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the entire hospital room suddenly turned silent.

This matter was indeed somewhat hard to accept.

When Zhou Yun first learned of this, he had been just like the two of them.

It was only after Liu Xuemin produced sufficient evidence and the meteorological experts provided their explanations that he had reluctantly accepted the truth.

"How could this be..." After a long time, Zhuang Yan spoke slowly, looking distracted.

"At first, I didn't believe it either, but the Expert Group has already verified this matter with meteorological experts in the relevant fields..." Zhou Yun explained, word by word.

"Did he not consider what kind of consequences this would cause?" At this moment, Chen Xiong spoke up, his emotions suddenly agitated.

"Consequences?" Zhou Yun raised his eyebrows and said, "We've been chasing him for so long; do you think he considers the consequences when he does things?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiong's emotions were somewhat stirred:

"Setting aside the casualties of the Pursuit Team—I will settle that account with him once I catch him—but Team Captain, don't forget! Below that mountain is a residential area, less than a kilometer away from where the avalanche occurred. If an accident had happened, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

"To escape, he didn't hesitate to trigger a disaster that could have harmed the innocent? This guy is as outrageous as it gets; he even almost killed me and Team Captain Zhuang! If we hadn't retreated in time, we wouldn't be in a hospital room right now, but in the morgue!"

The more Chen Xiong spoke, the more agitated he became. He yanked the needle out of the back of his hand, picked up the jacket on the bed, and put it on.

"What are you doing?" Zhou Yun said.

"Going to catch that bastard!"

"Can you calm down?"

"I am already very calm!" Saying this, he walked out the door without looking back.

After Chen Xiong left, Zhou Yun looked at Zhuang Yan: "The special plane back to Huaxia will take off from Rome International Airport on time the day after tomorrow afternoon. At that time, you and Chen Xiong, along with the injured team members, should return to the country."

"You aren't going back?"

Zhou Yun shook his head: "We have to stay behind to continue tracking Chu Chen's whereabouts. The higher-ups said that we must see the person if alive, or the corpse if dead; even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, we must find this kid."

"Are there any leads now?"

"Not yet."

"I want to stay."

Hearing this, Zhou Yun shook his head again: "No, Zhuang Lao just spoke with the Expert Group on the phone, and he wants you to return immediately."

"My grandfather?" Zhuang Yan asked.

"Yes."

"At this critical juncture, the team is in need of people; I cannot just leave like this. After the case is solved, I will speak to my grandfather about it," Zhuang Yan said resolutely.

Zhou Yun did not say anything more.

He had long expected Zhuang Yan to say this.

"Decide for yourself. I'm going to talk to Chen Xiong; you get some rest."

Zhuang Yan nodded.

She watched as Zhou Yun and the others left.

After they left, the entire hospital room suddenly became quiet.

Looking at the French plane trees swaying in the wind outside the window, Zhuang Yan fell into deep thought again, unable to snap out of it for a long time.

……

……

……

In order to find Chu Chen's whereabouts as quickly as possible, within three days of the incident, the rescue teams from the Italian Police Headquarters and the Swiss Fire Department conducted a very meticulous carpet search of the jungle at the border of the two countries!

But in the end, they did not obtain any valuable clues.

They only found some of his discarded skiing equipment; they didn't even see a shadow of Chu Chen!

After this equipment was unearthed, the Huaxia side attached great importance to it!

They protected it immediately, transported it back to the country via a special plane, and handed it over to the relevant national departments!

After receiving this equipment, the relevant departments immediately established a hundred-person security team for it!

The reason Huaxia did this.

Was to prevent the patent from leaking.

Because at the moment, the program has not ended, and the patent issues involved cannot be resolved in a short time!

According to international patent protection law, even the relevant agencies of the patent owner's own country have no right to conduct research on it without the owner's consent!

Based on this law, they can only wait until the competition ends before going to talk to Chu Chen about this matter.

Otherwise, they would have to pay huge compensation!

In this world, Huaxia's legal system and oversight mechanisms are very sound; it is one of the countries with the most sound legal systems in the world!

The protection of personal patents is very strict!

Without the individual's permission, they would absolutely not launch this research project!

The official importance attached to this matter is no less than that of the spacecraft launch back in the day.

And because of this, news about the usage rights of the "skiing equipment" patent would occasionally spread on the internet, sparking intense discussion among many people!

Among these, the most explosive was a piece of news released by someone claiming to be an official staff member through a whistleblower's Weibo account.

In this news, he claimed that in order to secure this patent, the authorities had directly prepared several hundred billion Huaxia Yuan!

Once this Weibo post was released, it reached the number one spot on the trending list in the blink of an eye!

It directly pushed the trending topic about a certain singer surnamed Wang holding a concert off the rankings!

Having spent money to buy a trending spot with great difficulty, only for it to be gone in less than an hour, it was truly quite miserable.

Among the numerous comments on this Weibo post.

There were all kinds of voices.

Some agreed, some opposed, and both sides were arguing very fiercely.

In the end, it was only after CCTV personally stepped in that this disturbance was calmed down.

But even so, it did not completely end people's discussions about this matter!

Through this point, one can see that the public's approval rating for this sport is still quite high!

Once it is released, it will definitely set off a frenzy for Ice and Snow sports!

Of course, besides Huaxia, the public in other countries have also realized this point.

During the time Chu Chen disappeared, many relevant departments from various countries sent expressions of interest to Huaxia to purchase the patent for this sports equipment!

Especially some countries where Ice and Snow sports are very popular, such as some countries in Northern Europe, Canada in North America, and so on.

However, these requests were all temporarily rejected by the Huaxia side on the grounds that the patent was restricted.

The real reason, of course, goes beyond this.

But this is also a fact.

Because this is a personal patent, even if the state wants to conduct research, it has to pay.

Before Chu Chen returns, no institution may initiate research on it under any name!

……