America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Riding the wave of public opinion sparked by the dock incident, Martin swept through the award season, clinching the Best Supporting Actor prize in ceremonies big and small.

From the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award to the People's Choice Award, and then to the Screen Actors Guild Award, every Best Supporting Actor trophy, without exception, ended up in Martin's hands.

Mid-January, at the Golden Globe Awards, although Martin did not attend, the trophy for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture was still brought back by Thomas, who accepted it on his behalf.

Martin had recorded a video specifically for expressing thanks, in which he was seen undergoing rehabilitation for his arm and legs, and aside from expressing his gratitude for the awards, he reassured his supporters that he would be discharged soon.

Among The Dark Knight's rightful contenders at the Oscars, it was Martin's Best Supporting Actor that seemed the most likely to snag an award.

Thanks to the buzz generated by Martin, The Dark Knight's DVD sales continued to soar, with North American revenues alone breaching the 300 million US Dollar mark.

Furthermore, the film was still being screened in overseas markets, with the international box office surpassing 550 million US Dollars.

The global box office of The Dark Knight tallied up to 1.162 billion US Dollars, edging past The Lord of the Rings 3's 1.147 billion US Dollars, securing it the second spot in the all-time global box office rankings, second only to Titanic.

"Good news!" Thomas arrived to deliver the Golden Globe trophy to Martin, and as he entered, exclaimed, "Martin, I've got good news!"

Martin was on an exercise bike, and coming off it, he caught a towel tossed by Bruce and said, "Could it be that Warner Bros. made an early payout for my share of The Dark Knight's North American box office earnings?"
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Thomas replied, "The box office share will take a few more months."

He set the Golden Globe trophy on the table, "The endorsement fee from Nokia and Coca-Cola has all arrived in the company's account, and will be transferred to you in the next few days."

Martin's endorsement fee for Coca-Cola was only 10 million US Dollars a year, but he also received a sales commission for the Martin commemorative edition Coke that bore his image.

Based on the normal sales trajectory of the commemorative Coke, his commission for the year would not be less than the endorsement fee.

Martin picked up the Golden Globe trophy and inspected it closely, remarking, "This is still my first prestigious award."

Bruce questioned, "Don't you have a Saturn Award?"

Martin responded, "The Saturn Award's significance doesn't quite measure up to that of a Golden Globe."

Thomas chimed in, "True, the Golden Globes are a league of their own and not quite the Oscar bellwether like the guild awards, but its influence in the media far surpasses that of the Saturn Awards."

Setting down the trophy, Martin said, "It seems I need to create a special room for honors."

"That's essential." Thomas agreed, "The Los Angeles Golden Key for Honorary Citizenship, and next Los Angeles very likely may establish Martin Davis Day, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Saturn Award, Golden Globe, and maybe the Oscars..."

Martin cut him off, "The nominations haven't been announced yet; let's not pop the champagne at halftime."

Thomas rubbed his bald head, "My apologies, that was out of line."

He asked Martin, "When are you being discharged?"

Martin had a plan prepared, "Let's aim for another wave of attention after the Oscar nomination luncheon is over."

The next day, Bradt came to visit, bringing good news that with LAPD's strong support, the Los Angeles City Council passed a resolution to establish "Martin Day," planning to select a date for a joint press conference after Martin recovered and was discharged.

After discussing with Thomas, they set the date for the end of January, during the most critical period for Oscar voting.

That weekend, the Oscar nominees' luncheon was held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, where the nomination list for this year's Oscars was announced, and as expected, Martin's name appeared among the Best Supporting Actor nominees.

His competitors included Philip Seymour Hoffman, Josh Brolin, and Robert Downey Jr.

Faced with declining Oscar viewership each year, the Academy implemented quite a notable adjustment this year, appointing Hugh Jackman as the ceremony's host.

Three days after the Oscar nominations were announced, Martin prepared for his discharge.

Three brand-new Cadillacs were parked in front of the hospital, with Bruce and Thomas preloading the luggage, and Martin, along with bag-toting Elizabeth, stepped out of the hospital room to shake hands with his attending physician.

"Thank you," Martin said with a face full of sincerity.

The doctor smiled and replied, "It's part of my job."

Martin extended his hand and took two boxes from Elizabeth, handing them to the doctor, "Just a little gift."

The doctor, upon realizing it was a hand-carved edition of the Cola Cult Joker, which was in high demand and commanded a high price on the market, hastily said, "This is too valuable."

Martin pointed towards Lily, "She carved it by hand; it's just a bit of time cost, really."

The doctor accepted the gift.

Martin then went to the nurses' station to express his gratitude to the nurses who had attended to him, and likewise gifted them the same presents before descending the stairs.

"He's such a nice guy."

"Never puts on airs like a big star, and even when we occasionally slip up, he doesn't say anything."

"So much better than other Hollywood stars!"

Downstairs, Martin got into the car and instructed Bruce to drive off.

The three Cadillacs had just left the hospital's gates when they were blocked by swarms of reporters and fans.

Martin also saw multiple live broadcast cameras set up across the street.

The flashes from the reporters made it hard for Bruce, who was driving, to keep his eyes open.

Many fans holding bouquets yelled loudly, "Martin! Martin!"

Having not made a public appearance in a long time, fans were keen to get updates on his actual condition.

A young person clad in a red cultural shirt completely blocked the entrance to the medical center.

Martin knew he had to show his face, otherwise, it would be impossible to proceed, but getting out of the car might cause even bigger problems.

Fortunately, they were well-prepared.

Martin patted the front seat, and Bruce opened the sunroof of the Escalade.

The fans' screams immediately flooded in, deafening.

Martin climbed out through the sunroof, waving in all directions.

Then he took out a megaphone and shouted loudly, "Hello everyone, I'm Martin, and I've fully recovered."

As he said this, he even flexed his arm to show off his muscle, "My arms and legs are totally fine, thank you all for your concern, and I'll be back to work very soon!"

The fans screamed even more frantically, "Martin! Martin..."

Another group shouted at the top of their lungs, "Martin, the eternal Cola War God!"

"Thank you! Thank you for all your love!" Martin lifted the megaphone again, "I haven't been home for a long time; can you let me go home to check on my family first? I'm worried they might be left homeless on the streets. If that really happens to a relative, I'll let you know, and you must come to help me..."

Laughter erupted at the entrance of the hospital, and with some fans leading, the crowd started to part, gradually making way for the vehicles.

The reporters who were stuck in traffic were also somewhat cleared away by the hospital security.

A reporter asked loudly, "Martin, when can you do an interview?"

Martin shouted, "There will be a news conference very soon!"

The LAPD arrived just in time to maintain order at the scene, and Bruce drove the Cadillac through the crowd at a snail's pace.

When they reached the outer edge of the crowd, suddenly, a dozen girls in white wedding dresses jumped out, holding light boards that read "I love Martin."

With Tony and Aisha leading, these girls blocked the cars' path, swaying their hips, and chanting while dancing, "I love Martin! I love Martin!"

Martin had no choice but to climb out through the sunroof again, "I love you too!"

"Yay!"

Tony and the others threw kisses at Martin and then stepped aside.

Martin sat back inside the car and had Bruce close the sunroof.

Elizabeth, who was sitting next to him, said, "I'm just realizing now, being a celebrity is really exhausting!"

"Not too bad," Martin said with a laugh. "Compared to my original job, this is way easier now."

No matter how tiring it was, it couldn't compare to the hardship of when he was at the bottom, when life was hard, tiring and money was scarce.

The three Cadillacs gradually drove off into the distance.

"Martin loves me! Oh!" Tony felt intoxicated, then asked, "But why hasn't he called me? I waited for him in New York last time expressly."

Aisha said, "He didn't call me either."

Tony asked the others, "Have any of you received a call from Martin? We made a pact, never to betray the sisterhood!"

"No!"

"Me neither."

The other girls also expressed that they hadn't received any calls from Martin.

"Passively waiting isn't going to work, we need to take matters into our own hands." Tony looked at Aisha and asked, "Martin has moved to the Beverly Hills Sunset Boulevard North Area, I remember your uncle works in that community, can you get us in?"

Aisha glanced at her group of sisters and quickly shook her head, "No way, we're too many."

When the other sisters had walked away, Aisha lowered her voice and said to Tony, "With so many of us, we're easily noticed."

Tony understood, "What if it's just the two of us?"

"It's still difficult." Aisha had asked her uncle about the situation: "The community is full of stars, celebrities, and the rich. It's very strictly managed. If a stranger enters, they'll be discovered quickly."

Tony scratched her blonde hair anxiously, "What should we do then?"

Aisha spread her hands, "I haven't thought of a solution yet."

Tony, as the leader of the group, was somewhat clever and quickly came up with a plan, "What if the two of us pretended to be employees working in that community?"

Aisha initially froze, then said, "That's a good idea! I'll ask my uncle if they're hiring. He is in charge of some of the personnel work."

Tony said, "Go and ask right away, and don't tell the others."

Aisha nodded repeatedly, "I understand."

The sisterhood's leader and second-in-command took the lead in betraying their own sisters.

That day, news of Martin's discharge from the hospital and return home once again slaughtered the entertainment sections of major media, becoming a top headline.

It even reached the top position on Google's hot search list that day.

TMZ's live broadcast vehicle even followed Martin all the way to the entrance of the Sunset Boulevard North Area.

The next morning, all major media received news that the Los Angeles City Hall was going to hold a press conference with Martin to announce a significant piece of news.

Robert Downey Jr. and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who were also on the list for the Best Supporting Actor nomination, both cursed loudly in their homes.

It wasn't like they had never seen public relations marketing; after all, Harvey Weinstein had already degraded Oscar PR marketing to the ground, but they had never seen cheating done with such high-end tactics.