America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

After dinner, Martin, Nolan, Emma Thomas, and Mordecai went upstairs together.

"When you go to Casablanca, you must visit my home," Mordecai sincerely invited them, "Give me a chance to host you."

Martin smiled, "Professor, you're too kind."

Nolan said, "That will have to wait until I come to Morocco for location scouting next time."

Mordecia insisted, "You could take a connecting flight from Casablanca when you leave Morocco."

Nolan politely declined.

Mordecia was the first to exit the elevator.

Martin and the Nolans' rooms were one floor up.

Back in the room, Bruce opened his bag, took out the gift from Professor Mordecai, and handed it to Martin.

Martin opened it and saw that it was a piece of old coral, a specialty from Morocco.

Bruce commented, "It's quite beautiful."

Martin handed it back to him, "Keep it safe."

He went to take a shower. Afterward, his mobile phone rang. It was Thomas calling on time.

Thomas had essentially finalized the adaptation of "The Martian."

Drawing on the experience with "Gone Girl," Davis Studio would recommend the novel to Random House. After it was published and on the market, they would proceed with the film adaptation.

Martin ended the call and said, "Those FBI guys, they are really the good ones."

Bruce asked, "Is that novel any good?"

Martin rummaged for the manuscript and handed it to him, "Read it carefully."

Bruce didn't take it, "You might as well kill me."

Martin looked down on him, "Ignoramus!"

......

A nondescript van drove to a dimly lit area of the hotel, where several women proceeded to get in.

That ordinary-looking female assistant stood in the van, with a hotel floor plan pinned on the smooth metal wall.

Gisele and three others boarded the van.

The female assistant asked Gisele in French, "Is it arranged?"

Gisele nodded, "I'll go up in half an hour."

The assistant handed her a lipstick, "It contains a sleeping drug. Once ingested, it quickly takes effect, and they can sleep deeply all night, not easily waking up."

Gisele inspected the lipstick to make sure it was okay.

Another woman took out a large rolling suitcase from the side.

The assistant said, "After you finish on your side, we'll disguise ourselves as guests on the same floor, carrying the suitcase upstairs."

Gisele checked the suitcase, "Mordecai is rather slim; he'll fit in there without a problem, but I'll need help to move him."

A body without consciousness is dead weight, and even with some training, it's quite difficult for one person to handle.

The assistant affirmed, "I and they will come up to help you."

She went to the hotel floor plan and pointed to a spot, "Here's a service elevator in the hotel. Between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., it's virtually unused. We'll retreat using this service elevator, exit through the rear delivery door, get in the van and head east immediately. Wazazat is not far from the Algerian border, and we have contacts at the border to meet us."

The women memorized it firmly.

Finally, the assistant reminded them, "Communicate only in French. In case of any unforeseen events, we are acting as private individuals from France!"

"Understood," Gisele responded, pocketing the lipstick. After ensuring everything was normal outside, she got out and walked to the hotel's main entrance.

She carried her bag to the guest elevator lobby and waited briefly for an elevator to arrive.

Mene, dressed in black, came out of the elevator and immediately noticed Gisele, greeting her with a smile, "Good evening."

Gisele, calm and composed, smiled back, "Are you going out?"

Mene flashed his white teeth, "The air inside the hotel is stuffy, going out for a walk."

Seeing the elevator doors about to close, Gisele quickly pressed the button and pointed inside, "I'm going up."

Mene hurried to hold the door open, "Goodbye."

Gisele entered the elevator.

As Mene walked away, he couldn't help but silently lament that Professor Mordecai had no taste.

Wouldn't it be better for the professor to find someone closer to his age? What's so good about these young ones?

Mene left the hotel and checked his watch. It was still early. Emma Thomas wouldn't come out at this time. While wandering aimlessly around, he took out his earphones, plugged them into his mobile phone, and started playing it, learning French at the same time.

This was also in preparation for working with Isabel Huppert.

Although Mene had reached a level that most actors could hardly achieve through his gift of the gab and Martin's recommendation, he also saw the hardworking side of Martin and did his utmost when preparing.

When one focuses on something, time always seems to fly by.

Before he knew it, Mene heard his mobile phone ringing. He looked at the incoming call display, quickly answered, but didn't rush to speak.

Emma Thomas's voice came through the handset, "I've got a bit of business with Chris and will go out later. You find a secluded place first, and I'll come directly to you."

She added a specific reminder, "Don't go too far, just around the hotel."

"No problem," Mene replied.

The call was quickly disconnected.

Mene put away his earphones and looked around. The quietest place nearby was undoubtedly the rear side of the hotel.

There were trees, and the street lights were almost nonexistent. It was late, and no one would be around. Additionally, being close to a five-star hotel, there was no need to worry about safety. Should anything happen, a shout would be enough for the hotel security to hear.

Mene walked toward that area and when he approached the back door, he discovered a van.

Because he couldn't stop thinking about his goddess Emma Thomas, he subconsciously stopped upon seeing the van, standing behind a tree to see if there was anyone inside.

If there were people, he would choose another place; if not, the area behind the van seemed quite nice.

It could block the view, yet it wouldn't spoil the mood of the wilderness.

......

Inside the hotel suite, Gisele went to take a shower in the bathroom. At first, Mordecai could still be heard making occasional sounds, but by the time she came out wrapped in a bath towel, Mordecai was slumped on the couch, fast asleep.

She quickly changed into her clothes, went over, and tapped Mordecai, "Professor! Professor!"

Mordecai snored on, showing no reaction.

Gisele pushed him again, confirming he wouldn't wake up, then took her phone out of her bag and dialed a number with one touch.

After the ringing sounded three times on the other end, she hung up.

Gisele moved to the door and peered through the peephole, observing that the hallway was very quiet.

She hid beside the door, waiting for her accomplice to come up.

In the cargo van, the female assistant put away her phone, slid open the partition window, and gave a light tap.

The driver nodded slightly.

The assistant signaled for the other two to get out of the vehicle. One person did so, looked around in the pitch dark without noticing anything out of the ordinary, and said in French, "All clear, be quick."

The assistant handed over the large suitcase to her, and seeing her about to drag it away, she quickly reminded, "Be careful with the wheels, don't drag it on the bad roads here. Even if Mordecai is frail, he's still a man. If the wheels break, it'll be very inconvenient to drag him along and it might raise suspicion."

The person lifted the suitcase.

The assistant and another person got out of the van, closed the back doors, and walked along the road towards the hotel's main entrance.

The three women soon passed by a tree nearby.

Mene, who was standing motionless behind the tree, had been through a lot with Martin, ensuring that his basic psychological quality was still intact.

His natural advantage also made him even less detectable in the darkness.

The three women moved further away,

and the quiet Mene took several deep breaths. Once they turned a corner, he took out his phone and quietly followed.

Every word of their conversation in French had fallen into Grandpa Mene's ears.

Was the film crew in trouble? He was the male co-star!

Martin was the lead actor, Emma Thomas the producer; Mene was a man of conscience and couldn't stand idly by if the film crew was really in trouble.

Moreover, he recognized the leading woman—it was an assistant from the film crew. Explore stories at My Virtual Library Empire

The target was Professor Mordecai? It reminded Mene of something, Gisele, who had been seducing the professor, sometimes whispered with that female assistant.

Mene had a guess and arrived at the hotel entrance, where he saw the three women pass through the lobby into the elevator area.

Mene himself was an actor and imitated Old Cloth's manner, entering the hotel nonchalantly as if he was oblivious to everything, pockets held casually as he headed towards the elevators.

As he approached the elevator area, he just saw that suitcase being dragged in at the last moment.

Mene waited a few seconds and then hurried into the area, standing patiently in front of the elevator.

The elevator display showed an upward journey, stopping on the floor where Professor Mordecai and the British actors were staying.

Mene immediately took another elevator to the floor where Martin's room was located, ran up to Martin's door, and knocked.

Bruce opened the door and saw Mene, curious, "Weren't you going on a date?"

Mene stepped quickly into the room, closed the door, and announced, "Old Cloth, boss, something's happened."

He relayed what he had just witnessed and his suspicions in a few sentences.

"Why would they want to kidnap the professor?" Mene couldn't figure it out.

Martin, however, picked up his phone, "Let's go find the director and producer to see what they have to say."

Mene asked, "Shouldn't we rush over?"

Bruce patted him from behind, "Rush over to get shot? This is Africa."

As Martin left the room, he suddenly remembered Nolan's words. Was the professor heading to Tehran for an academic exchange?

Was there a connection? North Africa and the Middle East were close and the relationships were complex.

As Martin pondered, he had already knocked on Nolan's room door.

Nolan was surprised, "What's the matter?"

Martin stepped in first and gestured for Mene and Bruce to follow.

As Nolan closed the door, Mene had already recounted the story.

Emma Thomas glanced at Mene, puzzled, "Why?"

Nolan shook his head, "I'm not sure." He tried to remain calm, lacking experience in such matters, and asked Martin, "You've had more experience with incidents like this than I have, what do you think we should do?"

With time pressing, Martin spoke up, "My personal thought is that if we let them take the professor, it could cause a lot of trouble for us, and the film crew could be under investigation by the Moroccan authorities for a long time."

He was straightforward, "The film crew's bodyguards and the security personnel provided by Moroccan authorities all stay in the two floors below. They are all armed. It wouldn't be difficult to stop these women if we notify them."

Nolan knew he was far from Martin's league in this respect and signaled for him to continue.

Martin knew how to get Nolan to follow his lead, and it was too easy, "We can record the whole thing, Chris. During the film shooting, the director himself leads a successful rescue from a kidnapping..."

Nolan is no ordinary director. He immediately thought of the publicity this would generate and said, "That makes sense."

"This decision is up to you and Emma," Martin backed off, aware that Nolan had said Mordecai was going to Tehran for an academic conference, seemingly skilled at creating distractions.

As a director with the perfect blend of skill and marketing, Nolan decided, "Let's do it that way."

He personally called to mobilize the team.