America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

In the not-so-spacious room, Leonardo sat alone in the rocking chair on the sofa, seemingly asleep, not making a sound.

In a daze, he thought he heard something. He opened his eyes and looked around, but didn't spot anything out of the ordinary. He picked up the dart beside him and casually threw it.

Perhaps it was sheer luck, but the dart hit right in the center of the target.

Leonardo closed his eyes again, mulling over where to go after work to relax and maybe chase some models.

As he pondered, the faces of Martin and Nicholson suddenly flashed before his eyes. He shook his head vigorously; he was thinking about blonde, long-legged supermodels, how did he end up thinking about those two bastards?

However, it had been a while since he'd seen them, and somewhat surprisingly, Leonardo felt a tinge of longing.

Those two bastards, not even coming to visit the set!

Leonardo heard another strange noise, opened his eyes again, and like a rocket had been lit under his ass, leaped up from the chair.

He jumped up so quickly that the rocking chair tipped over.

A dozen rats, startled, scurried out from the base of the walls and corners. A few, in their panic, ran towards Leonardo.

"Ahh! Aaah—" Leonardo's hairs stood on end, and in an instant, he bolted toward the door with the speed of an 11-second sprinter.

He tried to pull open the door, only to find it was locked from the outside.

Even more rats, sent scampering by his loud scream, appeared—dozens of them—in the now chaotic room.

Two of them even collided with Leonardo's feet.

Like a startled rabbit, Leonardo jumped up, grabbing the windowsill above the door, struggling to haul himself up.

He was still shouting loudly, "Help! Somebody help!"

In his desperation, Leonardo tapped into a tremendous burst of strength, his arms pulling his hefty body up until his head popped above the windowsill.

Then his shoulders and chest followed.

At that moment, Leonardo unleashed his three-styled signature move once more—frowning, glaring, and roaring, "Somebody help!"

But after just one shout, he stopped.

Right outside the door, Leonardo saw the two old buddies he had been longing for.

Martin and Nicholson!

Leonardo saw that both were wearing thick leather gloves, each clutching a rat, their four eyes, like those of a legendary pervert, sizing up his handsome face.

Wielding the rat by its tail, Martin said to Leonardo, "I've been practicing my throwing recently; not very good with it, but this close, I feel like I should be able to hit your face."

Nicholson chimed in, "Leo, open your mouth wide, I'm aiming for it. Be a good sport and open up."

Leonardo roared, "I damn well treat you as brothers, and you treat me like a cat?"

"Don't flatter yourself," Martin retorted loudly, dismissing Leonardo's idea of brotherhood, "What kind of cat gets this scared and screams at the sight of mice?"

Leonardo, unable to act tough any longer, pleaded softly, "Show some heart, you two, help a brother out."

Nicholson feigned a throwing motion with the rat, startling Leonardo into letting go, and he fell down.

A dull thud followed by pitiful squeaks filled the room.

Leonardo felt he had stepped on something. Looking down, he saw a rat crushed under his big foot, its lower half squashed.

Its innards splattered out.

Gazing upon this slightly gory and disgusting sight, for some reason, Leonardo suddenly felt that rats weren't such a big deal at all and stepped down again.

Face the fear, conquer the fear, become the fear!

The unfortunate rat's head turned into a pulp.

The rest of the rats scampered away en masse.

Leonardo felt a strange sense of relief and, grabbing the dead rat by its tail, flung it out the window, "Here's a gift for you guys!"

Those two bastards were still out there; he couldn't let them get off easy! "

Quick on his feet and sharp-eyed, Martin dodged to the side of the door as something came flying at him.

The dead rat hit the wall on the other side of the corridor with a smack, splattering blood spots on Nicholson's head and clothes.

It seemed like something else landed on his sunglasses as well.

Nicholson, the old degenerate who had experienced it all, didn't care in the least. Glancing at the rat on the ground, he gave Martin a thumbs-up, "Your special therapy worked!"

He stepped forward, unlocked the door, and swung it open.

Leonardo charged out, right into Nicholson's embrace.

The latter hugged the former, rubbing his face against Leonardo's, "My dear brother, you've finally overcome your inner fears!"

"Let go of me! Just let me go," Leonardo protested, feeling some sticky substance moving from Nicholson's sunglasses onto his own face.

Disgusted by the two bastards' antics, Martin said, "You two better clean yourselves up."

Leonardo looked at Martin, "Aren't you going to give me a hug for coming to see me?"

When it comes to internal affairs, the three men were fickle as reeds in the wind. Nicholson let go of Leonardo and reached out to pull Martin in.

Martin hurried away, keeping his distance from them.

Nicholson cursed, "Disloyal bastard!"

Martin shouted, and the cleaning crew and rodent control team that had been arranged by the production team rushed into the lounge to start the mouse-catching operation.

Half an hour later, Nicholson and Leonardo, who had showered and changed clothes, came out and met up with Martin.

Leonardo pointed at the two bastards, "Is this your treatment plan?"

Without any integrity, Nicholson betrayed them, "It was all Martin's idea, it has nothing to do with me."

Martin was nearly fuming, "It was you who called me to come treat Leo together, and you even added details to the treatment plan. How can you say it has nothing to do with you?"

"Treatment? You two bastards think of this as treatment?" Leonardo glared, frowned, and roared, "Didn't you consider what I would do if my problem got worse?"

Martin said earnestly, "Brother, have you ever thought that the best way to overcome fear is to face it directly?"

Leonardo said, "That's because I am strong enough. If it were someone else, you'd drive them insane!"

Martin patted his shoulder, "Don't worry, I've contacted Dr. Laura." He specifically explained, "Laura is my therapist, and she's very skilled."

Nicholson took out his sunglasses and put them on, "I've booked a room for you at the Elders' Council Hospital Mental Health Center. Martin will handle the costs."

Leonardo was utterly helpless, "How did I ever meet you two bastards!"

Martin asked, "Are you still afraid of mice now?"

"Of course not!" Leonardo put his hands on his hips as if he wasn't the one who had cried out for help at the sight of a mouse, "Bring on 100 more, I dare to smack them all to death."

Martin then asked them both, "So, did my treatment plan work or what? Tell me, isn't the effectiveness top-notch? Are you not going to call me Dr. Martin?"

Nicholson and Leonardo looked at each other.

Scorsese came from the other side and saw Leonardo exchanging barbs with Martin and Nicholson, boasting and joking around, and he got a headache.

When these three idiots get together, even God would go mad.

He quickly asked, "Leo, are you alright now?"

Leonardo stretched, "Feeling fantastic, like I'm back in top form."

Scorsese looked at Martin and then Nicholson, feeling something off about the trio.

Leonardo came over and threw an arm around Scorsese's shoulder, "Director, I'm going to take a rest today. Tomorrow I'll dive into work full of energy."

"Okay!" Scorsese didn't quite trust the trio, and being old friends with Martin and Nicholson, he specifically said, "Don't cause trouble in the production, this is a serious set. Apart from Leo, the others can't handle your antics."

Martin patted his chest, "Director, don't worry. I'll keep these two troublemakers without a clue in check."

Before they could argue, Martin declared, "Let's go."

The three left the office building and headed towards the parking lot, passing by several soundstages rented by the "Shutter Island" crew.

From a distance, Martin spotted a familiar figure.
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Heath Ledger was holding a three or four-year-old girl, heading toward them.

He also saw Martin's group and automatically halted.

Martin paid him no mind and simply walked by.

Heath Ledger watched Martin leave with a complicated look in his eyes.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" the little girl asked, "Hurry up and take me to mommy."

"We're going to mommy now." Heath Ledger smiled at the little girl and continued towards the soundstage with her in his arms.

On the other side, Martin inquired, "Heath Ledger is on the crew as well?"

"His ex-girlfriend, Michel Williams, is playing a supporting actress," Leonardo suddenly thought of a way to tease Martin, "I heard things didn't end well between you and Heath Ledger. He often visits the set lately, probably wanting to reconcile with Michel Williams."

Martin knew all he had was bad ideas, "You can shut up now."

Leonardo insisted on speaking, "I can introduce you to Michel, invite her out for a drink tonight. I can tell, Michel is lonely and needs a man's comfort..."

Martin replied, "Those people are all in the past. I'm someone who likes to look ahead. No need to get entangled with them, it's of no benefit to me."

Nicholson rarely agreed with Martin, "The three of us, short on women?"

The three got into the car, Bruce drove them to the hotel, and they entered Leonardo's luxurious suite to drink.

Martin opened a bottle of whiskey and poured three glasses.

Nicholson picked up a glass, "Gisele's getting engaged and didn't even invite us to her pre-wedding party. That's just wrong!"

Leonardo grabbed a glass and downed half in one gulp.

Martin asked, "Is it not just because of the mice, but also because Gisele is getting engaged?"

"Who am I? Would I be heartbroken over a girl?" Leonardo finished the rest of the drink in the glass, "Martin, cut the crap. Would I be sad over a supermodel?"

He emphasized, "In my life, I'd never give up the entire forest for just one tree!"

Martin refilled his glass, "That last bit, I believe, is true."