America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

The evening was late, and the guests took their leave one by one, each carrying a parting gift from Martin and Elizabeth.

The courtyard was still brightly lit but had quieted down.

Thomas stayed till the end and approached Martin, saying, "Ali's persuasion seems to be effective."

Martin nodded, "Don't relax your efforts with Martha and Rita's PR team. Communicate well with them; I will fully cooperate from my side."

"They'll have a detailed plan and itinerary by next Monday." Thomas glanced at the time, "I'll be leaving now."

Martin said, "Go back and rest early."

After Thomas had walked away, Elizabeth asked in a low voice, "Is there anything I can do?"

"Cheer me on," Martin whispered into her ear, "and every now and then give me a bit of cleansing cream to keep my mind clear."

Elizabeth, who had been the hostess all evening, was in a great mood and said, "I think you are a bit muddled now and need to clear your head."

Martin replied, "Who wouldn't be muddled with a girlfriend like you?"

The two went back to the villa together.

......

Atop a small villa near the exit of Sunset Boulevard North District, stood two tall and muscular men.

Victor and the bearded man had come from Atlanta and, after scouting around Martin's new community, rented a small villa not far from it.

The bearded man held up binoculars, barely making out a procession of cars leaving a brightly lit mansion.

By using the binoculars' rangefinder, he measured the distance and said, "It's over 2500 meters from here."

Victor had already researched the information and said, "That house is at the center of the community, far from all exits. The community is managed as a closed unit. With a large property and few people, security is tight, and unfamiliar faces nearby easily attract attention."

"I was thinking his place would be easy to attack, wait for the boss to come over, fire off an RPG, and be done with it," the bearded man said.

Victor reminded him, "Forget about those foolish ideas."

The bearded man said, "I just want to keep it simple and straightforward."

A police car with flashing lights drove past.

Victor looked at his watch; only a few minutes had passed since the police car's lights disappeared from sight when another set of flashing lights appeared on the other side of the community. The LAPD's patrolling was very frequent.

This was a district inhabited by the wealthy and famous, whose annual tax contributions were substantial, so such treatment was normal.

The bearded man was focused on different issues than Victor.

He looked again at the distant mansion, then shifted his gaze to follow the procession of car lights to the community's security staff, calculating how many he could take down in a short time if they acted.

After some estimation, the bearded man simply asked Victor, "How long would it take if we quietly take out this area's security, drive in at top speed, quickly eliminate the target, and then retreat?"

Victor pointed to the road branching off from Sunset Boulevard, "At least ten minutes at the slowest; there's a police car passing near the community. As soon as we make a move, we'll be discovered. How will we retreat then?"

The bearded man's usual tactic, "Take a few security guards hostage."

Victor shook his head, "You idiot, killing both hostages and criminals together is not Alpha's style; we'd end up trapped in Los Angeles, emptied by those American pigs."

The bearded man continued along his line of thought, "We use fierce firepower..."

Before he could finish, Victor slapped him on the head, saying, "Shut up. We are gangsters, not the military! This is America, not Russia! How many people do you think we can bring? A bunch of Russians gathering together, don't you think it would attract attention?"

The bearded man spread his hands, "There's another simple way; we bump into him on the street. For a Hollywood star, I could catch him on my own."

"Others might be brainless and keep quiet, but what about you? Not just brainless, but also keen to suggest ideas." Victor actually liked his partner, although he often proposed unreliable ideas, he listened and did not act rashly.

He continued, "This is not the place to act. With our power, we'd probably be wiped out by the LAPD before we even see Martin."

The bearded man frowned, "Is the LAPD that formidable?"

Victor said, "They are the biggest armed group here!"

As the lights on the road began to fade, he patted the bearded man, "Let's go; it's time to call the boss."

The two drove off, leaving Beverly Hills, found a nearby public phone without surveillance, and dialed a number.

Victor said a few words, quickly hung up, and grabbed the bearded man's shoulder, "The boss plans to leave the country today, splitting up to head to North America."

The bearded man laughed heartily, "It won't be long before we get to have a real fight."

......

Belgorod, border area between Russia and Ukraine.

After handing over a stack of US Dollars, a group of men crossed the border line into Lugansk.

The car raced along the highway and soon entered a small town.

Boris, with his grizzled beard, got out of the car and went into the town's only hotel.

The middleman waiting there came forward and said, "Everything is arranged."

Boris nodded, and several men went upstairs into a room to talk.
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Without any fuss, the middleman took out different passports and plane tickets and placed them on the table.

Boris looked through them; the flights were scattered, over the coming days from various cities to Los Angeles.

"If you all go together, you'll definitely be thoroughly checked and likely run into trouble," the middleman was very thorough, "You'll have to scatter."

Boris extended a finger and pointed, and immediately someone came over with several stacks of cash.

The intermediary accepted the money and said, "This is as far as I can help you. Once you're in America, as long as you have money, you'll have no trouble buying guns."

"Keep your mouth shut," Boris spoke for the first time.

The intermediary nodded and quickly left the room.

Boris had his men take the passport and plane ticket, and said, "Everyone get ready."

One by one, they left, leaving only a bodyguard with him.

Boris fished out a photo from the inside pocket of his overcoat. It was a group photo of three people.

Besides him, there was a middle-aged man and a young man.

They were Boris's son and grandson. His son, who idolized the world's beacon, insisted on making his way in America.

As a result, his only grandson died in Burbank Middle School, and his son died in prison.

In other words, Boris's lineage had been cut off.

Revenge was imperative!

Boris stretched out his hand to the bodyguard and said, "Coca-Cola!"

The bodyguard took out a bottle of Coca-Cola from his bag—it was the kind that came in glass bottles—and handed it over after opening it.

Boris took it and drank deeply, as if he were drinking his enemy's blood.

Once the bottle of Coca-Cola was empty, he took out a folded poster from his pocket, spread it out on the table, and smashed the bottle down onto it.

The small poster had already been battered to a blur of colors, but one could still vaguely make out that it featured Martin Davis!

Boris said, "This was what they used to smash my grandson's head, right?"

The bodyguard replied, "Yes."

"Good!" Boris said fiercely, "Catch him alive if possible. I want to use a Coca-Cola bottle to smash his head into pieces, one hit at a time!"

Having been under the scrutiny of those bastards at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and forced to bide his time for years, he could not hold back any longer.

......

In Los Angeles, Martin began his busy schedule with the Oscar campaign and the rewards from sponsors.

He hardly had to spend his own money. With success came an Oscar statuette and a total of 6 million US dollars in prize money, so he had every reason to work hard!

Once November began, The Dark Knight Crew held consecutive large dinners, and Martin attended every single one, mingling and laughing with the Academy members.

A plethora of gifts were sent out by the crew.

WMA hosted dozens of free screenings in major cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago. The invitees were mainly film critics, media reporters, and entertainment bloggers.

Martin attended almost every event, during which he greatly emphasized the hard work and effort he put into his role.

Everyone who came was gifted a handcrafted Joker statuette and a deluxe edition of The Dark Knight DVD box set.

Martin made another appearance on the Helen talk show, vigorously promoting himself.

All of the Academy's judges received a Joker statuette and The Dark Knight DVD mailed from WMA and Warner Bros.

Considering that the judges attending the screenings might not have DVD players at home, the crew also considerately "loaned" each of them a DVD player to watch the movie.

Since it was a loan, it did not violate Academy rules.

As for the return date for these loans, there was no rush for that.

For the lobbying aspect, Martin left everything to the professional team of Martha and Rita.

With a reliable public relations team on the matter, he didn't need to worry much himself, just follow the PR agenda.

Veterans like Nicholson and Warren Beatty, if they wished, could dine free at fancy restaurants from October until the end of January, and the gifts they received could tire their hands.

To be nominated and further to win awards, money was essential.

On Martin's part, combining all sponsorships, he had prepared over 3 million US dollars.

And this was just for a supporting role.

Martin vaguely recalled that a Korean movie had once thrown no less than 15 million US dollars into an Oscar campaign, setting a record for the awards season.

Regardless of the film's quality, such a large sum of money would make a big splash even if thrown into the water.

Over the past month, Martin was overwhelmed with busyness, sometimes traveling to two cities in a day, and even when in one city, he had to switch between at least two work locations.

If you wanted to win an award, you had to lower your pride and run the PR circuit.

Even widely recognized performing artists like Daniel Day Lewis and Meryl Streep had to do the same during awards season, let alone Martin, who was of a younger generation.

The Academy itself encouraged public relations and competition.

Just entering December, after nearly five months of screening, The Dark Knight officially concluded in North American theaters, with its domestic box office ending at 616 million US dollars.

That feat allowed The Dark Knight to usurp both Shrek 2 and the Star Wars Prequels, sitting at the second spot on the North American box office all-time list.

The Dark Knight's international screenings were far from over. The international box office was gradually nearing 500 million US dollars, with a global box office already at 1.088 billion US dollars.

The film's conclusion in North American theaters also meant that the DVD would soon be released for sale.