America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 467 Revenge is a Must

As it grew late, the guests began to depart, each carrying a thank-you gift from Martin and Elizabeth.

The courtyard was still brightly lit, but it had become quiet.

Thomas stayed behind last, approached Martin, and said, "Ali's lobbying efforts have been quite effective."

Martin nodded: "Don't let your guard down with Martha and Rita's PR teams. Communicate with them well, and I will fully cooperate."

"They'll have a detailed plan and schedule by next Monday." Thomas glanced at the time. "I'm off."

Martin said, "Go back and get some rest."

Once Thomas was out of sight, Elizabeth asked in a low voice, "Is there anything I can do?"

"Give me some encouragement," Martin whispered in her ear. "Give me some face wash every now and then to keep my head clear."

Elizabeth, having been the hostess all night, was in a very good mood and said, "You seem a little dazed now; you need to clear your head."

Martin said, "With a girlfriend like you, who wouldn't be confused?"

The two returned to the villa together.

…………

On the roof of a small villa near the North Exit of Sunset Boulevard, stood two tall, muscular men.

After arriving from Atlanta, Victor and Big Beard found out where Martin's new home was located and rented a small villa not far from the community.

The bearded man held up binoculars and could vaguely see a long line of cars leaving a brightly lit manor.

Using the telescope's rangefinder, he measured the distance and said, "It's over 2500 meters away from here."

Victor had already investigated the information and said, "That house is located in the center of the community, far from all the exits. The community is under closed management, the house occupies a large area but there are few people, and security management is strict. It is easy to attract attention if a strange face appears nearby."

The bearded man said, "I was thinking that his place was easy to attack. Once the boss got here, I could just fire an RPG and take care of it."

Victor cautioned, "Let's not even talk about those foolish ideas."

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

A police car with its lights flashing drove up from the road.

Victor glanced at his watch. The police car lights had only disappeared from sight a few minutes ago, and now police lights were faintly visible again on the other side of the community. The LAPD was patrolling very intensively.

This is a residential area for the wealthy and famous, and they pay huge amounts of taxes every year, so it's normal for them to enjoy such treatment.

The bearded man's focus was on a completely different topic from Victor's.

He glanced at the distant manor, then followed the long line of car headlights to the security guards hired by the community, calculating how many he could take down in a short time if he made a move.

After estimating for a while, the bearded man simply asked Victor, "How long would it take if we quietly dealt with the security here, drove in at top speed, quickly took care of the target, and then left?"

Victor pointed to the road branching off from Sunset Boulevard and said, "At the latest, a police car will pass by the neighborhood in about ten minutes. If we make a move, we'll be discovered very quickly. How will we get out then?"

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

Victor shook his head: "You idiot, killing hostages and killers together isn't Alpha's specialty. We'll be stuck in Los Angeles and have our magazines emptied by those American pigs."

The bearded man continued, sticking to his line of thought, "We'll use fierce firepower..."

Before he could finish speaking, Victor slapped him on the head, saying, "Shut up! We're a gang, not the military! This is America, not Russia! How many of us do you think we can send? A bunch of Russians gathered together, won't that attract attention?"

The bearded man spread his hands: "There's another easy way. We can bump into him on the street. He's a Hollywood star; I can catch him all by myself."

"Others who are stupid will shut up obediently, but what about you? Not only are you stupid, but you also like to give advice." Victor was actually quite satisfied with his partner. Although he often gave unreliable advice, he listened to him and wouldn't act recklessly on his own.

He said, "This is not a suitable place to make a move. With our strength, we might be wiped out by the LAPD before we even see Martin."

The bearded man frowned: "Is LAPD really that powerful?"

"They are the largest armed group in the area," Victor said.

The long line of streetlights gradually faded away, and he patted his beard: "Let's go, it's time to call the boss."

The two drove away from Beverly Hills, found a public phone without surveillance cameras nearby, and dialed a number.

Victor said a few words, then quickly hung up the phone, grabbed the bearded man's shoulder and said, "The boss and the others plan to leave the country today, heading to North America separately."

The bearded man laughed heartily: "It won't be long before we're able to make a big splash."

…………

Begos Texas, the border region between Russia and Ukraine.

After paying a sum of money, the group crossed the border and entered Luhansk.

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

Boris, with his white beard, got out of the car and entered the town's only hotel.

The middleman who was waiting there stepped forward and said, "Everything is arranged."

Boris nodded, and the group went upstairs to their room to talk.

Without further ado, the middleman took out different passports and plane tickets and placed them on the table.

Boris took it and looked at it. The tickets were scattered, with flights to Los Angeles from different cities over the next few days.

"If you all go together, you'll definitely be thoroughly investigated, and there's a high chance of problems." The middleman had considered everything thoroughly: "The only way is to go separately."

Boris pointed with his finger, and immediately someone came over and took out several stacks of cash.

The middleman took the money and said, "This is all I can do for you. Once you get to America, as long as you have money, you won't have trouble buying a gun."

"Watch your mouth," Boris said as his first words.

The middleman nodded and quickly left the room.

Boris told his men to take away the passports and plane tickets, saying, "Get ready."

People left one after another, with only one bodyguard accompanying him.

Boris opened the inside pocket of his coat and took out a photograph; it was a group photo of three people.

Besides him, there were middle-aged people and teenagers.

These are Boris's son and grandson. His son admires the world's beacon of light and insists on developing his career in the United States.

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

In other words, Boris's lineage has ended.

Revenge is a must!

Boris held out his hand to his bodyguard: "Coca-Cola!"

The bodyguard took a bottle of Coke out of his bag, the kind that comes in a glass bottle, opened it, and handed it over.

Boris took it and drank it down in large gulps, as if he were drinking the blood of an enemy.

After finishing the bottle of cola, he took a folded poster out of his pocket with his other hand, laid it flat on the table, and smashed the cola bottle on it.

The small poster was already smashed and its colors were faded, but you could still vaguely make out that the person on the poster was Martin Davis!

Boris said, "He hit my grandson on the head with this, didn't he?"

The bodyguard replied, "Yes."

"Very good!" Boris shouted. "Capture him alive if possible. I'm going to smash his head to pieces with a Coke bottle!"

He'd been targeted by those bastards in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and forced to endure it for years, but he couldn't take it anymore.

…………

In Los Angeles, Martin got busy, working towards an Oscar nomination and for the rewards from sponsors.

You basically don't need to spend your own money, and if you succeed you'll win an Oscar and a total prize of $600 million. There's no reason not to work hard!

As soon as November arrived, the Dark Knight crew held a series of large banquets, and Martin attended every single one, chatting and laughing with the Academy members.

A huge number of gifts were sent out by the film crew.

WMA held dozens of free screenings in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago, primarily for film critics, journalists, and entertainment bloggers.

Martin attended almost every event, and in his interactions with these people, he lavishly described the hard work he put into the role.

Everyone who attends will receive a handcrafted clown statue and a deluxe edition Dark Knight DVD set.

Martin appeared on Helen's talk show again, promoting himself heavily.

All the judges of the Academy received Joker statues and Dark Knight DVDs mailed by WMA and Warner Bros.

Considering that the judges attending the film analysis meeting might not have DVD players at home, the production team thoughtfully "lent" each of them a DVD player to watch the films.

Since it was borrowed, it did not violate the college's regulations.

As for the lending time, there's no rush.

Martin left the lobbying to Martha and Rita's professional team.

Find a reliable PR team for this, and you won't have to worry about it much; just follow their schedule.

White men like Nicholson and Warren Beatty could, if they wanted, enjoy free lunches and dinners at upscale restaurants every day from October until the end of January, and receive gifts left and right.

To get a nomination, and then win an award, money is essential.

Martin, on the other hand, has prepared more than $300 million in sponsorships from various sources.

This is just the expense of a supporting role.

Martin vaguely recalls that a South Korean film once spent no less than $1500 million on public relations in an effort to win an Oscar, breaking awards season records.

Regardless of the video quality, such a large sum of money would make a huge splash even if thrown into water.

For the past month or so, Martin has been extremely busy, sometimes traveling between two cities in a single day, and even when staying in one city, he has to change jobs at least twice.

If you want to win an award, you have to swallow your pride and do public relations and publicity.

Even renowned performing artists like Daniel Day-Lewis and Meryl Streep do this during awards season, so it's no surprise that Martin, a younger generation artist, does it too.

The college itself encourages public relations and competition.

Just as December began, after nearly five months of screenings, The Dark Knight officially left North America, with its North American box office remaining at $6.16 million.

This allowed The Dark Knight to surpass Shrek 2 and Star Wars: Episode I to take second place on the all-time North American box office chart.

The overseas screenings of The Dark Knight are far from over, with overseas box office revenue gradually approaching $5 million, and global box office revenue reaching $10.88 billion.

The film's removal from North American theaters also means that the DVD will soon be released.

(End of this chapter)