America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz-Chapter 788 - 781: While Others Hoard Grain, I Hoard Guns

In the hospital ward, Bruce lay in the hospital bed, while Martin, having changed clothes, sat in a chair looking at a bruised mark on his hand.

"When did you get hurt?" Nicholson asked as he came out in a new shirt.

Martin shook his head: "I'm not sure myself." He then remarked with a sense of relief, "Thankfully, we got to the hospital quickly. The examination showed I was injured. If we had been slower, the bruise might have disappeared."

Bruce raised his left hand and gave Martin the middle finger: "You asshole, you're mocking me!"

Martin crisply replied, "I'm stating a fact."

Bruce's injury was not serious; the bullet hadn't hit bone, and he only needed six stitches. He'd be fine with some rest.

Nicholson turned on the TV in the ward and switched to CNN.

True to its reputation for timely reporting, CNN had already dispatched its live broadcast vans to the scene at the Dolby Theatre.

"...according to the latest information we have, a gunman disguised as a movie fan infiltrated the premiere. He opened fire towards the end of the red carpet event, and from what we see, there are at least ten people dead and scores injured."

The female reporter listened for a moment to her earpiece and then continued, "Breaking news: there were three gunmen, two of whom were shot dead, and one was captured after being injured. A photographer caught footage of the scene, which we're coordinating to broadcast."

While CNN, known for its speed and accuracy, was still discussing the release of the related video news, TMZ, the number one entertainment and gossip website, had already posted a dozen videos from the scene on its homepage.

Without any editing, Jody directly uploaded videos taken by his team and ones they'd purchased onto the website's homepage.

TMZ's traffic exploded!

Martin didn't pay attention to these things for the moment because he heard noise in the hallway. When he went to check, he saw Nolan and his wife, Emma Thomas.

He quickly went out and upon seeing Emma Thomas's arm slung around her neck, asked, "Emma, are you hurt?"

Emma Thomas forced a smile and replied, "I fell after running into the Dolby Theatre, got a bit of a fracture."

Martin nodded, briefly assessed Nolan, saw he was uninjured, and remarked, "This has been a terrible night."

"Yes, the premiere was completely ruined." Nolan's first thought was of the movie: '"The Dark Knight Rises" will definitely be affected by this incident, and we don't know what will happen afterwards...'

Martin reassured him, "This isn't something like 9/11. North American audiences are quite resilient; the movie won't suffer too much."

Nolan and Emma Thomas went inside to visit Bruce.

After coming out, Nolan asked Emma to rest and pulled Martin aside to speak privately: "You might not be aware, but Christian Bale is also in this hospital. He's been shot and has a large hole in his buttock, and his nasal bone was shattered when he fell on the stairs; he'll need a long time to recover."

He hadn't had a high opinion of Bale for some time, so he was largely unmoved and instead pointed out, "Batman's actor getting injured at the premiere will not only prevent him from participating in future promotions, but it will also bring lots of negative publicity. Bale, during the run of the movie, is virtually Batman!"

Martin understood the implication: the actor's real life affected the film, and the film in turn influenced the actor himself. It was unavoidable in Hollywood.

Many A-list actors playing heroic roles would even stipulate in their contracts how many times they can be punched in a film.

Nolan thought of some strategies, but was unsure, "The actor who played Bane, Vin Diesel, is dead. I think we could focus the follow-up publicity on Diesel, like organizing various tribute events, promoting stories about what he put into the role, and I'm also considering adding a tribute to Diesel at the end of the film..."

Martin looked at Nolan, suddenly reminded of "The Dark Knight" from his past life. Indeed, a top-tier movie marketing master.

He felt no moral burden, saying, "Given what happened, it would be abnormal for the crew not to pay tribute to Diesel. They would be attacked by the media and public opinion. It's only natural for the crew to publicly mourn Vin Diesel."

Nolan felt confident about his ideas: "You're absolutely right. We must mourn Vin Diesel, we must vigorously promote him, so all the movie fans around the world will know the effort Vin Diesel put into this film!"

He suddenly realized that Diesel's death, in a way, might be more useful to the film than when he was alive.

Nolan said a quick word to Martin and then left in a hurry, calling Daniel Midway to schedule a meeting as soon as possible.

Martin returned to the ward, finding Lily, Elizabeth, Lorraine, and Leonardo had all arrived.

After discussing the recent incident, the Los Angeles Police Department came knocking.

Martin, Bruce, and Nicholson each gave their statements separately.

The LAPD had also collected ample videos and photographs, and after questioning many who escaped the scene, had a very clear understanding of the entire incident.

Martin told everything as it was, recounting everything he had seen and heard.

After giving his statement, he came out of the separate room to find McLain waiting outside.

In the wake of such a tragedy, shouldn't this leading figure from the LAPD be at the scene?

McLain shook hands with Martin and took him aside, away from others: "If you hadn't acted when you did, there could have been many more casualties. Each of the three shooters had prepared four magazines."

Martin responded, "I almost lost my life, Old Cloth got shot, and you saw that Escalade riddled like a hive. If that car hadn't been bulletproof, the best-case scenario for me would've been lying in a hospital bed."

McLain said, "Today's incident will put the LAPD under tremendous pressure. Can you cooperate with them on your end?"

"We've been friends for years, just say what you need to," Martin replied vaguely at first.

McLain said, "Keep a low profile, try not to give interviews, and avoid sensationalizing the incident in the media."

"Apart from attending the memorial at the scene tomorrow, I won't do anything else," Martin thought for a moment and then said, "Provided that your PR department does not involve me as much as possible."

"Of course not," McLain said. With so many people dead, McLain had already made plans after receiving reports on the gunmen's situation: "All three gunmen were lunatics, all typical of anti-social personalities!"

Martin was surprised, "You've got information on them?"

"According to the gunman we captured, there were three of them in total. The organizer was named James Holmes, a maniac who worships the Joker and believes that society is decaying..." McLain briefly described the situation of the three men.

After hearing this, Martin felt there was no need for him to say anything, since so many reporters had already taken videos and photos; there was no need for him to step forward and hype it up.

Being low-key was not a bad move at this time.

McLain then asked, "What about Warner Bros.?"

Martin spoke candidly, "My relationship with Warner Bros. is very sensitive. If I speak out rashly, it's hard to say in which direction things would escalate."

McLain nodded and said, "I'll contact you if there's anything. On behalf of the LAPD, thank you."

"We're old friends, no need for formalities," Martin said.

"I need to head back to the scene now, so I won't keep you any longer," McLain said hurriedly as he left.

This incident had placed enormous pressure on McLain.

The somewhat good news was that, apart from Martin's side, only one of the three gunmen had been staying in Los Angeles for an extended period; the other two had roamed in from other states.

This news would soon be leaked to the media.

It wasn't just Los Angeles that had to bear the shame; of course, a few good friends had to be dragged into it as well.

The depositions from Bruce and Nicholson were also completed, and a group gathered again in Bruce's hospital room.

Leonardo was scrolling through his phone, slapping his thigh as he watched the shooting video, "I can't believe I missed it! I can't believe I missed such a dangerous situation!"

He looked at Martin, "I should've been the one to hand you a gun and load the bullets!"

Before Martin could reply, Elizabeth interjected, "No, I hope you will never have to hand Martin a gun and load bullets."

Nicholson said, "Who would have expected something like this to happen? Three anti-social lunatics suddenly starting a shooting at a premiere."

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Lily complained, "Isn't that typical America? There's been a crazy rise in gunshot incidents in recent years."

Having grown up in the Atlanta slums, she had seen far too much, "I grew up amidst gunfire; in the community nearby, people died daily from shootings or drug overdoses."

Martin said, "Living in America, you can never avoid dealing with guns. Everyone take good care of yourselves."

But suddenly, Nicholson asked, "Do you know who's most affected after every major shooting incident?"

Elizabeth joined the conversation, "Calls for gun control?"

"No!" Nicholson had encountered many bad situations in his life: "After every shocking nationwide shooting incident, gun sales always skyrocket! If others have guns and you don't, wouldn't you be panicked? If you encounter an unreliable neighbor who has a gun, and you don't, could you sleep at night?"

Martin suddenly remembered a phrase he had read online in a previous life and said, "In times of social crisis, while the neighbor hoards grain, I hoard guns."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Looks like Charlize Theron and the Stewart Family next door should be careful."

Leonardo then said, "Many people believe that the end of the world is coming soon. It seems like I should stockpile a bunch of guns."

Lily retorted, "Your shooting skills are terrible. Stockpiling guns would just be handing them over to someone else."

She and Elizabeth were both joking purposely, trying their best to lift any potential psychological burden from Martin.

Of course, Martin had no psychological burden to speak of; the gunman he had killed had been firing at them with a submachine gun, and Old Cloth had nearly gotten killed; emptying the magazine was just basic protocol.

After chatting for a while, the representatives from Warner Bros. and DC Films came over to discuss follow-up public relations matters with Martin and Nicholson.

The shooting had resulted in significant casualties.

Around ten o'clock in the evening, preliminary statistics were released: the shooting caused 22 deaths and 97 injuries.