America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

```

"I'm thoroughly screwed, that's the conclusion I've come to after much consideration, screwed!"

"These past six days were supposed to be the beginning of the most glorious six months of my life, but they turned into the prelude to a nightmare... All my teammates must think I'm dead, which of course, you can't blame them for. It wouldn't be surprising if they held a state funeral for me soon, and my obituary would probably read: Mark Watney is the only person to have died on Mars so far."

Martin carefully read the first two chapters and Matt Damon's honest face automatically popped into his mind, and along with the novel's title, it wasn't hard to confirm that this was that story about growing potatoes on Mars.

Then, he glanced at Rachel opposite him, wondering what the hell the FBI were up to. Stay tuned for updates on My Virtual Library Empire

Martin had looked for this novel, but couldn't find it on the publishing market. It turned out a few FBI agents out for a private catch used it as bait to fish for themselves.

Or was it that these FBI agents were extending an olive branch to him?

First they send a beautiful woman, then a project, damn good people indeed!

Although his mind was racing, Martin's acting was on point, his face utterly calm as if the work before him was nothing special.

Rachel had been observing Martin and noted that he was just calmly reading the manuscript, seemingly not too interested.

This wasn't an FBI move but her boss's doing, getting a few die-hard subordinates to show some color to the man who had blocked her promotion.

Her available resources were limited.

Rachel's first thought was also that a simple seduction would be enough to reel him in, considering his well-known reputation as a playboy.

Martin read another two chapters, was certain there was no mistake, closed the printed manuscript, and said, "A piece of literature with a lean towards hard sci-fi, its potential for adaptation is so-so. Over the years, Hollywood has favored hard sci-fi, which has always been high investment with low returns, with very few true successes."

Rachel had done her homework and said, "Don't you think this is like a Martian version of 'Robinson Crusoe'? It's very well written, and when I read it, it felt like it had the dramatic thrust of a rocket lifting off!"

Martin asked, "Has this work been published? Does it have an audience? Is the author famous?"

Facing someone from the industry, Rachel couldn't fabricate a story and could only respond, "It hasn't been published, the author is a nobody."

"See, these are the problems right here," Martin spread his hands. "Even if I want to adapt it into a movie, there's still a long journey ahead."

Rachel thought to herself as long as he didn't flat-out refuse.

She didn't care whether Martin eventually adapted it or not.

Rachel then suggested, "We could agree on a plan to push it towards adaptation."

Martin quickly flipped through the printed manuscript and found there was no ending, he asked, "Who's the author? There isn't even an ending! Rachel, this makes it very difficult for me."

Rachel's foot that had been reaching out retracted.

Martin continued, "I need to meet the author in person, talk with him directly, ascertain that he can finish this work, that he can write a fitting conclusion, so I can move forward with the adaptation."

He looked at Rachel, "You're a senior editor, you must understand how Hollywood operates. Even a moderately large film project consumes at least several hundred thousand US dollars just to move forward a single step."

After a brief consideration, Rachel said, "Our publishing house is also communicating with the original author about these matters. I can assure you that the issues you mentioned are all resolvable."

Martin, seeing her use something he was more skilled at as an argument, simply suggested, "How about this, for the initial recommendation, both sides contribute funds, and when it comes to the film project operations, I could bring your publishing house in as one of the investment shareholders."

This suggestion was completely beyond Rachel's expectation. It wasn't enough to just hand over a novel, now she also had to put money into operating the project?

Was this fishing or feeding the fish?

But having worked as an assistant in the FBI's Hollywood office, she knew that this was a sincere and normal way of operating in Hollywood.

A few hundred thousand US Dollar, of course, Rachel couldn't cough it up, maybe her boss's slush fund could cover it, but her boss surely wouldn't want to pay.

Bruce glanced at Martin but said nothing, because these were individual actions by individuals at the FBI.

If this had been an official FBI operation, they would've figured out a way to smooth things over long ago.

As events always stray from the plan, Rachel felt a bit disheveled. She looked at Martin across from her, full of sincerity.

"Um..." She was out of options and could only say, "I need to check with my superiors."

Martin said, "No rush." He picked up the manuscript, "I'll take it back for a closer look."

It was definite that not letting him take the manuscript was not an option, so Rachel nodded and said, "Take it with you."

Martin slipped the manuscript into his briefcase and lightly tapped Old Cloth's foot with his own.

Bruce didn't bat an eyelid as his pocketed cell phone suddenly rang.

He answered and after a few words, said to Martin, "That was a call from the White House, the President invites you to watch the fireworks show tonight."

Rachel's brow twitched, but she wasn't overly worried since her boss wasn't connected to those in the White House.

Martin picked up the briefcase and taking the hand of the rising Rachel said, "If your side is willing to invest, please inform me in time, so I can get people ready."

Rachel smiled and said, "I will report to my superiors."

Martin and Bruce left.

Once they were out the door and gone, Kate flopped back into her chair, saying, "You've made it too complicated, it was something that could've been solved by simply taking off your pants."

```

Rachel was somewhat displeased upon hearing this and retorted, "When Martin last came to Washington, you were eager to drop your pants, were you successful?"

Kate sold herself short, "I'm not charming enough, but you're different, you just spread your legs, tell him to look down, and he'll find a surprise, once he's used it, he'll crave it forever!"

Rachel was very angry, glaring at Kate, and ultimately said nothing, picked up her briefcase, and left the coffee shop.

Martin and Bruce entered the hotel lobby and first headed to the rest area.

Bruce carefully checked the file bag to make sure there were no problems before the two of them went upstairs.

"That was a quick talk?" Elizabeth hadn't finished packing her luggage yet.

Martin nodded and said to Bruce, "Call Thomas over."

Knowing he had urgent business, Elizabeth pointed towards the bedroom over there, "I'll go see if Lily is packed up."

A few minutes later, Thomas came in from outside, and Martin called him into the study of the suite.

Bruce handed the file bag to Thomas, "Inside is the manuscript of a novel."

Thomas took it out and asked, "Are we buying the rights?"

Martin nodded slightly, "This manuscript has not yet hit the market, and the rights should still be in the hands of the author, but I don't know who the author is."

He had specifically asked, and Rachel had been evasive and refused to say, "Find the author and negotiate the film adaptation rights with him as quickly as possible."

"Okay," Thomas flipped through the manuscript.

In Martin's mind flashed the honest face of Matt Damon, remembering that the other party was a member of the Foot Clan, he couldn't help but sigh that it wasn't just fate that wanted him to stand against the Foot Clan, the FBI did too.

After looking at the manuscript for a while, Thomas turned on the computer in the study, logged onto the Google website, entered a piece of the manuscript's content, used Google search, and opened up a personal blog.

He looked carefully and said, "Found the author."

Martin replied, "Who is it?"

Thomas said, "A man named Andy Weir who, lacking publisher support, serialized updates of 'The Martian' on his personal blog, currently up to the last chapter of the manuscript."

There was an author's introduction on top, and as he read, he said, "This person graduated from the University of California and is currently working at Blizzard Entertainment."

Martin asked, "The Blizzard Entertainment that released the Warcraft game?"

"Yes," Thomas confirmed, "He's a game programmer at Blizzard."

Martin thought for a moment, "You head back to California immediately to find this person and secure the rights."

Thomas put away the manuscript, "I'll go book a flight now."

Martin remembered something else, "And also confirm Ridley Scott's work schedule for the near future."

Thomas nodded and left the room.

Martin recalled again to make sure he hadn't remembered wrong, Ridley Scott was a director.

Ray, the director, was known in the industry for his inconsistency, directing films that were hits and misses, leading to a great reputation yet never obtaining final cut privileges.

However, one thing was clear, Ray's failed projects were mostly epic productions, especially historical ones, with "Gladiator" seemingly being the only one to have achieved great commercial success.

Conversely, in science fiction, Ray rarely stumbled.

Martin remembered that Ray was a director with great ambition, every time he succeeded in science fiction, he would dive headfirst into the pit of epic films without looking back.

"Kingdom of Heaven," "Robin Hood," "Gods of Egypt," "The Last Duel"…

All of them were box-office disasters with production costs of over a hundred million US dollars.

Martin took out the trio's special phone and once again called Nevies, chatting for a while before he felt relieved.

That afternoon, Thomas took a flight back to Los Angeles.

Martin's party had dinner early and went to the White House again to watch the Independence Day fireworks show with Guanhai and others.

Elizabeth also communicated with Michel in person; Maria would go to Los Angeles in mid-July to join the "Inception" crew for a summer internship.

Nolan, Martin, and several senior executives from Warner Bros. would all sign on to her internship record.

Needless to say, her future entrance into an Ivy League school was virtually guaranteed.

The next morning, Martin sent off Lily and Elizabeth first, then took a flight to leave North America and returned to Morocco to continue shooting "Inception."

While transferring in Rabat, he received a call from Nevies.

The fishermen, having failed in the competition within the fisherman community, were dispatched to South Korea as liaisons and wouldn't be returning to North America for a long time.

With no hook left, Martin naturally decided to keep the bait.

Thomas had made contact with Andy Weir, who was still part-time writing, with serialization of his novel hardly seeing any hope, and the negotiations also went relatively smoothly.