Chapter 52: Surpassing Mr

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Inside the Command Room.

Just as Liu Xuemin was thinking, Chen Zijin suddenly spoke up:

"He is no ordinary criminal; he can certainly anticipate that we would set up defenses at the foot of the mountain. We cannot take this lightly; we must deliberate carefully..."

After finishing, he walked back to the whiteboard and fell into deep, endless contemplation!

The Extreme Eight Items are Chu Chen's criminal motive.

This point is beyond doubt!

And it is precisely based on this that Chen Zijin has always felt that the truth of the entire case is likely hidden within it!

As long as these can be figured out, everything will surface!

Including this challenge on Mount Everest!

But at the moment, the relevant clues they possess are far too few; there is simply no way to start.

They have not even determined which of the Extreme Eight Items the challenge Chu Chen is currently undertaking is!

During this time, Chen Zijin has been pondering this matter.

Based on the literal meanings of the remaining seven challenges, he feels the most likely ones are Master of Fate and Ice Solidification!

A high-altitude life-or-death journey, and Mount Everest is a snow mountain—it fits the literal meaning perfectly.

But then he thought again.

He felt this conclusion seemed a bit too hasty.

"What are you thinking about?" Liu Xuemin asked as he walked to his side.

Discovering it was Liu Lao, Chen Zijin said indifferently:

"I am thinking about which of the Extreme Eight Items this Mount Everest challenge is..."

"Do you have any leads?"

Chen Zijin shook his head helplessly: "Not yet. The clues he left are too obscure. However, one thing I can be certain of is that this guy shouldn't just surrender like this. He must have planned everything long ago and thought of an escape route, and this escape route is very likely the key to this challenge."

This view of his coincided with Liu Xuemin's.

But for now, he has no evidence to prove this deduction of his!

Thinking of this, Chen Zijin let out a long breath, exchanged a complex look with Liu Xuemin, and said no more!

At the same time.

Mount Everest!

Right now, a glimmer of morning glow can already be seen in the eastern sky.

It is estimated that it won't be long before the sunlight emerges from the sea of clouds.

At this moment, Chu Chen has successfully reached 8800, and only the final step remains to the ultimate finish line!

This night, all of Huaxia did not sleep!

Especially in the Tibetan region where Mount Everest is located, the Barkhor Street in front of the Jokhang Temple is full of Tibetan people performing prostrations; the scene is truly spectacular!

……

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Yanjing, Tongzhou!

Inside a luxurious detached villa!

At this very moment, the Chairman and Co-CEO of Li Ning Group, the former gymnastics prince Li Ning, is staring intently at every move Chu Chen makes on the television screen!

Like other viewers, he was also too excited to sleep all night today!

However, the reason for his excitement is not entirely because of this great step Chu Chen has taken for humanity!

It is more because, through this live broadcast, he has discovered a spokesperson who perfectly fits his brand!

In recent years, Li Ning, who has been flying the flag of national trends, has put a lot of effort into marching into the international market!

First, he spent 2.2 billion Hong Kong dollars to purchase a multi-story building from Henderson Land Development in Hong Kong to serve as Li Ning's headquarters in Hong Kong, and then he searched for new spokespersons for national trend products throughout the sports and entertainment circles!

But due to the high requirements, a suitable candidate was never found!

Regarding the choice of this brand spokesperson, the entire group attaches great importance to it, and the requirements are also very high.

They must have good looks, a good physique, and even more so, fame; it is best if they are a professional athlete and possess a certain degree of international influence!

At first, they set their sights on some well-known athletes.

But after the auditions, they always felt something was missing!

Because the endorsement styles of these athletes were relatively mature.

They were completely on a different channel from the innovation sought by national trend products!

Secondly, since most of them were athletes of minor sports, their international influence was very limited.

If one is not an insider, they wouldn't know them at all.

These people are fine for endorsing professional sports items, but if it's for sports fashion products, it's somewhat inappropriate!

For this matter, Li Ning has not been idle these days; whenever he has free time, he looks for candidates online.

But after looking here and there, he still didn't find a suitable candidate that made his eyes light up!

But today, after learning about Chu Chen's deeds, he was deeply attracted by this maverick young man all at once!

His looks, his courage, his fame, and even his personal style all perfectly meet the company's standards for choosing a spokesperson!

If he could invite him to serve as the global spokesperson for Li Ning's national trend products, the entire group might reach a new level because of this!

Watching Chu Chen on TV as he launched his charge toward the peak, the more Li Ning thought, the more excited he became; he wished he could immediately hand the endorsement contract to Chu Chen!

Because he had a premonition that at this very moment, besides himself, many other brands must have noticed this young man as well!

If he did not strike first, he would very likely be beaten to the punch by others!

Realizing the severity of the problem, Li Ning immediately got up and went to the walk-in closet, calling his office secretary while putting on his clothes:

"Notify the group's senior management to arrive at the company right now; today's morning meeting is moved up."

It was only five o'clock in the morning, and when the office secretary received his call, they were still in their dreams, their entire tone thick with sleepiness: "Understood, Chairman, I will notify them immediately..."

"Remember, I said immediately, right now! No one is allowed to be late for any reason! I have something very important to announce! Do you understand?"

"Understood, understood, please rest assured."

As the athlete with the most business acumen in Huaxia, Li Ning's business sense was indeed very sharp.

During this period, not only him, but many sports brands had entered the fray one after another, extending olive branches to Chu Chen!

For example, Anta, Degrees, Xtep, and even high-end outdoor brands like Camel and Kailas from Huaxia had joined the ranks of those fighting for an endorser, sending their initially drafted endorsement contracts to the Program Team at the first opportunity!

Among these brands, the highest offer was still from Li Ning, who directly offered a 500 million lifetime endorsement contract!

Anta followed closely behind, offering 400 million.

As for the remaining brands, none reached the hundred-million mark; they were basically all in the tens of millions.

Besides Huaxia, foreign brands were not to be outdone.

Adidas, Nike, Arc'teryx, PUMA, Skechers, Mammut, Columbia, and so on and so forth!

Compared to local brands, the endorsement contracts offered by these big names were more exaggerated than the last!

Adidas offered 1.2 billion, PUMA offered 1 billion, Arc'teryx offered 1 billion...

But among them, the most shocking was still Nike, which directly offered an astronomical endorsement fee of 2 billion USD!

This endorsement fee directly broke the record for the highest endorsement fee previously set by superstar Michael Jordan!

Back then, for a superstar like Jordan, Nike had only given a 1.3 billion lifetime endorsement, far less than Chu Chen's 2 billion!

What is the concept of a 2 billion endorsement fee?

Barring any accidents, this should be the highest price Nike could offer at this stage, and it was a one-time offer!

There had never been one before, and there would never be one in the future!

Through this endorsement fee, one could see the importance Nike placed on Chu Chen!

The brand side was not stupid either.

If they hadn't seen his potential, they would never have brought out so much money!