America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Sherman Oaks, Cody Community.

Leonardo and Bar Refaeli each rode a bicycle and arrived at Martin's front door.

The paparazzi trailing behind them finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Driving or riding a motorcycle to follow two people leisurely biking for snaps was sheer torture, like a slow race.

Leonardo got off his bike and pressed the doorbell at Martin's house. The doorbell rang continuously but no one came to open the door.

Bang! Bang—

Impatient, Leonardo started banging on the iron gate, kicking and pounding, even shouting, "Martin Davis, you bastard, hurry up and open the door! Open it!"

The paparazzi went wild with their cameras. Was the friendship of the trio collapsing? Had Leonardo and Martin become enemies? This was big news.

After kicking the door for a while, Leonardo took out his phone to make a call, but no one answered on the other end, causing his brows to furrow deeply.

Bar Refaeli asked, "Can't find Martin?"

Her voice was quite loud, and some sharp-eared paparazzi heard her, paying close attention to the situation.

Leonardo bellowed, "Where the hell has this jerk gone? Why is he unreachable?"

Bar Refaeli, completely unaware of the situation, asked, "Could there have been an accident?"

Leonardo looked extremely anxious and shouted, "Let's go, let's find someone!"

The paparazzi, with their keen senses, realized a major story was unfolding and, disregarding the usual unspoken agreement with celebrities, crowded in to dig deeper.

All eyes among the paparazzi turned to a blond, long-legged female paparazzo, signaling her to ask the question.

If others asked, Leonardo might get angry, but if the blond, long-legged woman did, they might get an answer.

The female paparazzo yelled, "Leo, are you having a conflict with Martin? Did you come here specifically to smash his door?"

Leonardo paused, his face marked with unabashed anxiety, his brows still tightly knit: "Martin has disappeared."

"Disappeared?" The paparazzi sensed the scent of a supersized scoop.

"Yes, disappeared," Leonardo confirmed. "I can't find Martin, I can't contact Martin. It's been almost 20 days, can't get through on the phone, and I came to his house today; it seems like nobody's home. I even contacted his agent just now, and the agent is also trying to get in touch with him."

The female paparazzo asked, "So, Martin Davis has gone missing?"

Leonardo nodded, then added, "You guys have the inside scoop, help out and find out where that bastard Martin has gone!"

The paparazzi couldn't bother to ask more questions and started pulling out their phones to make calls.

If even Leonardo, his close friend, couldn't reach Martin, it indicated that something had happened to Martin.

Leonardo didn't continue riding his bike but called for a car instead, heading straight to WMA in Century City.

That afternoon, news of Martin's disappearance spread all over the internet through some entertainment blogs and gossip sites.

Even reporters went to inquire with Jolie and Aniston, with the latter two stating that they too hadn't been able to contact Martin for a while.

By the next day, Leonardo had purchased advertising space in the "Hollywood Reporter" and the "Los Angeles Times," posting a missing persons notice!

"Searching for Martin Davis!"

The media frenzy took off, with all of Los Angeles's paparazzi springing into action, searching everywhere for news of Martin.

This sort of thing can't ferment for too long.

By that morning, Martin had released a message through his blog, telling everyone he was fine, currently in seclusion at the Four Seasons Hotel preparing for a new role, and he wished not to be disturbed.

At noon, Leonardo's car arrived amidst the watchful eyes of countless reporters and paparazzi, stopping in front of the Four Seasons Hotel.

Bruce came out to welcome him, escorting Leonardo upstairs.

"Old Cloth, I heard Martin got involved with Heath Ledger's fiancée Michel Williams?" Leonardo asked as they walked, "That can't be true, can it?"

Bruce replied, "It's probably not true."

Leonardo didn't think so: "Isn't he known for going after pretty thirty-year-old women who have boyfriends or husbands?"

Bruce thought about it carefully and conceded that it didn't seem wrong.

The two took the elevator upstairs.

Bruce opened the room door, and as Leonardo entered, he unconsciously took two steps back.

Behind him, the door slammed shut.

Leonardo instinctively tried to pull open the room door because the way Martin across from him was grinning was the spitting image of a psychopath.

His whole being oozed malevolence and madness.

"Hehe, Leo, it's been a while." Martin flicked his hand, tossing a playing card at him, "I'm gifting you a little something."

Leonardo caught the playing card and saw it was a Joker, responding, "I posted the missing person's notice for you – you're really full of lousy ideas."

Martin's voice remained the same, but the tone had changed, sending chills down one's spine: "Don't you think it's fun to play them for fools?"

Leonardo pocketed the playing card: "If it's fun, I'll play along with you. If it's boring, I wouldn't help you even for money."

Wealthy people prioritize fun above all else.

Martin then handed over another token of esteem: "Leo, you're a good person." He chuckled, "You like fun games, don't you? Wait until this job is done; I'll invite you to blow up Washington."

"You'd better invite Jack instead; he'd love that," Leonardo shrugged, "I'm better suited for bombing supermodels."

Martin nodded in agreement: "Indeed, after all, you can fire off a shot every 11 seconds."

Leonardo gave him the finger: "I'm out."

Martin said, "No need to see me out."

Leonardo walked out, patted Bruce's shoulder, and said, "It's not easy not to get pissed by all this."

Bruce, with a sorrowful face, said, "Life really is too tough, especially trying to protect someone like Martin."

Leonardo was very sympathetic toward Bruce, "Someday, if you act as a mole, we'll give him a hard time together."

Bruce didn't say anything.

Leonardo went downstairs and deliberately exited through the main entrance, swarmed by reporters and paparazzi, standing in the most conspicuous spot.

The reporters and paparazzi crowded around in a frenzy.

"Is Martin in the hotel?"

"Has he been threatened or coerced?"

"Can we know what situation he's encountered?"

Facing the passionate crowd of reporters, Leonardo raised his hands and pressed down to quiet them, and only when the noise subsided, he said, "Martin is fine and hasn't encountered any accidents, please rest assured about that."

He went on to say, "The reason you haven't been able to contact him is because Martin is preparing for a role in a new movie. He's trying to grasp the character, analyze the character's psyche, and doesn't want to be disturbed by anyone."

A reporter immediately asked, "What kind of role is it?"

"It's a very complex role, and I don't have the specifics," Leonardo continued, "Martin has been hiding in the hotel studying the role for almost 20 days now, and it may continue for another two weeks. I hope everyone won't disturb him, as Martin has completely immersed himself in the role. I went up just to say a few words to him and hurriedly left."

The reporters and paparazzi still wanted to ask questions.

The driver had already brought the car over, and Leonardo, without saying more, pulled open the door and got into the car.

After the car left, the reporters and paparazzi couldn't enter the hotel and quickly dispersed to report the incident as soon as possible.

Involving both Martin and Leonardo, it was definitely big news.

Inside the hotel, Bruce saw off Leonardo and returned to the suite, saying, "Leo went down to face the reporters."

Martin nodded, "What about the news on the competitors?"

Bruce then said, "Ivan shot photos of Adrian Brody, Josh Brolin, and Robin Williams, and sold the news."

Martin thought, efforts must be compared to stand out.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The next morning, the news about Martin locking himself in the hotel for a long time, throwing himself into grasping and studying a sexual role featured in the entertainment sections of various newspapers.

...

Warner Bros. Studios, The Dark Knight Studio.

Producer Charles Roven, after a period of busyness, took a few newspapers brought by his secretary and skimmed through them.

It was a way for him to relax after work and a habit he had cultivated over time.

Charles Roven flipped to the second page of "Hollywood Reporter" and quickly scanned the page, his gaze settling on an entertainment news item.

"Martin Davis has been found, Leonardo withdraws the missing person notice!"

The newspaper fully published Leonardo's words from his interview in front of the Four Seasons Hotel, and after scanning the part about Martin, Charles Roven reread it carefully.

"To think he's holed up in the hotel, immersing himself in the role for so long," he nodded slightly, "Indeed, the industry buzz that Martin Davis is dedicated and hardworking isn't just rumor."

Warner Bros. had worked with Martin several times, and Charles Roven had also heard about Martin Davis from other Warner producers.

Quite a troublemaker, but very dedicated too.

With the project production budget reaching 180 million US Dollars, Charles Roven, the most powerful person in the crew and the primary responsible person, naturally hoped that the lead actor would give his all for the role.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts, and after Charles invited the knocker in, the DC Comics supervisor Aulin pushed the door open and sat down across from him.

Seeing the newspapers in front of Charles, Aulin said, "I heard from Nicholson and Scorsese that, when preparing for the "Infernal Affairs" auditions, Martin Davis went to the Boston Police Department and followed them to get a real-life experience for almost a month."

Charles Roven said, "So it's not the first time for him. Hardworking actors, that's a great habit."

Whether Batman or Joker, both were the company's treasures. Aulin felt comfortable knowing the actors valued them so highly and said, "Martin's serious attitude is impeccable."

He then shook his head, "Others, not so much."

Charles Roven had ample communication and interaction with the Nolan Brothers; the Joker was a very complex character, arguably even more so than Nicholson's version from 1989. The more prepared the actor, the better.

Aulin added, "Compared to Martin, other actors seem to treat our projects and characters just as any regular film role." He reminded Charles, "Take a look at the TMZ report."

Charles opened the TMZ website and saw a photo of Adrian Brody; clicking on it, he discovered it was a segment on weekly street photography of Hollywood stars.

It featured many photos of stars shopping and on vacation.

Such as Stallone playing on the beach with his three daughters.

Tyson walking his 3000-pound pet tiger.

Adrian Brody enjoying the bright Mediterranean sun in Spain.

Tom Cruise shopping with his wife and daughter.

Josh Brolin hosting a yacht party.

Robin Williams spending a comfortable time with his family on his farm, and so on.

Despite the multitude of stars, Charles Roven noticed three actors related to the crew.

All this was normal, after all, stars are human, but compared to Martin Davis, he felt they were not taking the Joker role seriously and weren't putting in much effort.

There was too much disparity in attitude; they simply didn't measure up to the young Martin Davis's professionalism.