America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

It wasn't just the three people on the roof of the trailer, Martin included, who had their attention originally fixed on Leonardo and Nicholson. Their gazes gradually shifted away, turning to the oddly dressed figure approaching solo.

Some people who were familiar with him recognized him as Shia LaBeouf.

Leonardo looked over, "Is this the surprise Martin was talking about?"

Nicholson raised a hand to adjust his sunglasses, laughing as he said, "Haha, this is kind of interesting."

Atop the trailer, Silsa set up a tripod, standing behind the camera and said, "He's doing performance art again."

Martin, realizing the footage from his phone wasn't great, stopped filming altogether and focused on watching the spectacle, "The man who steals the show from the entire crew has finally arrived."

Shia LaBeouf wore a paper bag from the supermarket on his head, with three holes torn out for his eyes and nose. The rest of the bag was awkwardly emblazoned with the words— I am the normal one.

The clothes on his body were made up of several belts wrapped around him, covering key areas such as the chest and legs. The belts were inlaid with metal studs facing outward, the long spikes standing erect towards the sky, resembling a porcupine with some of its quills pulled out.

Hanging from the belt behind him was a whip, which dragged on the ground like the tail of a demon.

Shia walked forward in silence; the onlookers who had been surrounding Nicholson and Leonardo split to both sides, making way for him.

"He's coming our way?" Leonardo asked curiously, "A novel act cooked up by Martin?"

Nicholson didn't understand, "Martin wouldn't be that twisted, would he?"

Shia arrived in front of Nicholson, thumped down on one knee, the long spikes on his kneecaps piercing into the earth, making his posture look exceptionally bizarre.

He took the long whip from behind his waist and raised it high, "Jack, let me join the Trio of Scoundrels!"

Nicholson had no reaction.

Leonardo simply scoffed.

Shia loudly said, "Please lash me fiercely, as a testament to my joining."

Nicholson didn't touch the whip, just kept laughing joyfully.

With a paper bag on his head, Shia could still see clearly. As an artist, he was prepared to take the harshest tests, "In order to prove my determination and confidence in joining the scoundrels, I will kneel here for a long time, without making a sound, without any reaction. You can lash me, or test me in any other way, I will always prioritize artistic integrity, and will not dodge or resist."

The crowd around was abuzz.

Even in Hollywood, where they were used to all sorts of abnormalities and had seen stars with their quirky words and actions, they were still stunned by Shia LaBeouf's crazy stunt.

Even Johnny Depp, that eccentric, hadn't gone this far!

Nicholson found the view amusing, laughing heartily.

Leonardo also found it very entertaining.

But neither of them touched the whip.

Leonardo pointed towards a trailer behind them, "I see Martin."

Nicholson looked back and said, "Let's go. Let's continue watching the fun over there."

The two of them turned and walked away.

Shia LaBeouf remained kneeling on one knee, as if he hadn't noticed his targets had already gone far away.

Nicholson turned around for another look and couldn't help but burst into laughter, "Where did Martin find such a priceless character, this is damn hilarious."

Leonardo said, "Indeed, quite a big surprise."

Having reached the trailer, Martin and Bruce had already come down from the vehicle.

Silsa glanced at Leonardo and decided to stay up there, "I'll film a bit longer."

She wanted to see if anyone would take a swing at Shia LaBeouf.

Martin called Nicholson and Leonardo into the trailer and sat by the window where they could see that scene, casually chatting.

"Is he your performance artist?" Leonardo, always interested in art, inquired.

Nicholson asked, "Aren't nutjobs like him hard to find?"

"He has nothing to do with me." Martin retorted, "Didn't you recognize him?"

"The guy's head is completely covered in a paper bag, harder to make out than Batman." Nicholson replied, "How do you expect us to recognize him?"

Martin just said outright, "Spielberg's protege, the male lead of the live-action Transformers movie, Shia LaBeouf. Where am I supposed to find such a high-profile talent? He's here because of Blanchett, deeply admires Jack, and wants to be his minion."

He briefly explained the events concerning Shia LaBeouf over the past few days.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Leonardo seemed genuinely interested, "He's quite a character. Should be sent to San Fernando Valley, actually."

Nicholson chimed in, "Do you think Spielberg would let his protege go to a place like that?"

Martin casually responded, "As long as he's not his biological child, it's not a big issue."

Looking at the still-kneeling goof, Leonardo asked, "What do you two think?"

"We, the Trio of Scoundrels, are infamously wicked and adept at messing with people, we're elite troublemakers, not a shelter for the mentally deranged!" Nicholson declared with the air of a leader, bold enough to cause trouble and capable enough to handle it.

He pointed at the paper-bagged Shia LaBeouf, "If we let him join our trio, just imagine how the outside world would view us? We wouldn't be seen as elites or villains, but as nutjobs!"

Martin agreed with his opinion, "First of all, he'll significantly lower our average IQ. Judging by his behavior, he's a hundred times more likely to be messed with than mess with someone else."

Leonardo said, "Also, he'll seriously drag down our average attractiveness, reducing our appeal to young, beautiful women."

Martin and Nicholson's gazes simultaneously landed on his face.

Leonardo became dissatisfied, "What do you mean? I'm the one lowering your attractiveness? What kind of joke is this for this century!"

Martin rapped on the table, "This is to remind you not to let yourself go anymore. You'll drag down our average attractiveness, Leo!"

Leonardo was about to retort when Nicholson cut in front of him, "This Shia LaBeouf doesn't meet the standards of our trio at all. At most, he is just a weirdo, not cut out for being a villain, so we don't need to consider him."

Martin said, "Just watch him for entertainment."

Being a pure spectator is quite interesting indeed.

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Those who found it interesting included not just the spectators like the Trio of Scoundrels, but also Shia LaBeouf himself.

Shia appeared to be kneeling there, but the paper bag enclosed him in his own world, at that moment, he was as happy as a clown.

Happiness differs vastly from one person to another.

The spectators were snacking on Shia's huge melon, while Shia alone was feasting on melons of dozens of people.

Looking around at so many foolish people pointing and making comments like clowns, he found these melons crisp and sweet.

David Fincher stood alone at the entrance of the studio, looking at DreamWorks' godson, too furious to speak.

He must have been out of his mind to agree to DreamWorks' request to let this fool join the team.

David Fincher couldn't be bothered to go over. If the fool wanted to keep kneeling, let him continue.

Atop the trailer, Martin pointed at the roof, "Shia LaBeouf is average. The girl up there, however, isn't bad, and she has potential."

Leonardo's eyes shifted, raising his voice on purpose, "Martin, weren't you the one who claimed to be devoted? When did you change your taste?"

"Shut up, Leo!" Martin's voice escaped through the open window, "Silsa is a student I acknowledge. I am Silsa's teacher, and you can't belittle a student in front of her teacher."

Leonardo winked at Martin, "You're right, that was out of line on my part."

Nicholson pointed at the two scoundrels and said, "Since she has potential, guide her well. Not just in acting, but most importantly, how to develop safely in Hollywood."

His next words carried a touch of sincerity, "I'm getting on in years. Who knows, I might close my eyes and kick the bucket any day now, off to meet God or Satan. Then the Trio of Scoundrels would be down one, just in time for a successor."

Martin, however, said with a laugh, "Old scoundrel, rest assured, God wouldn't take you, and Satan would be too scared. They're both afraid we'd mess with them!"

Atop the trailer, Silsa was still shooting. Hearing the occasional talk and laughter, she felt these three were not the villains rumors made them out to be, but rather had a particularly endearing side.

Especially Martin, the teacher who had recognized her, truly was a good teacher.

Silsa Ronan, the child star who actively sought out Martin as a teacher, naturally had not so simple intentions, but at this moment felt she shouldn't think too much.

With Martin as her teacher, she should be able to avoid a lot of trouble in the future.

As for trouble that actively sought her out, Silsa had never been afraid. She had dared to stir up Emma Watson back at Pine Forest Film Studio!

In the afternoon, the shoot was still set in the open-air theater, still featuring the scene between Martin and Kate Blanchett.

A little distance away, the paper-bag man Shia LaBeouf was still kneeling there.

Some security guards from the studio found it amusing and went over to pose with him as a backdrop, taking photos together.

Then a hefty female security guard sneaked over, trying to pull down Shia LaBeouf's pants. If he didn't resist, maybe she could...

David Fincher had previously left a guard from the crew to scare the person away.

Even though David Fincher was annoyed, he couldn't let Shia LaBeouf actually get into trouble on set.

But taking photos and such was no issue.

After a while, two stylists came over and, with a flamboyant gesture, directed Tina: "Strike a sexier pose. He won't move anyway..."

Tina posed in various ways next to Shia LaBeouf and took several pictures.

The flamboyant stylist, with his fingers curled delicately, said, "I never imagined there would be a sixth gender in this world."

Tina, not being familiar with that scene, was confused, "I know there's talk of three genders, but how can there be six?"

The stylist listed, "Men, women, gay men, lesbians, transsexuals, those were the five known before."

He gently tapped on Shia LaBeouf's paper bag, "Look, this is the sixth, the Paper-Bag Person!"

Tina had a moment of realization.

"Hey, Tina, hurry back to set!" Silsa shouted from a distance, "Blanchett is fuming, saying what's so great about that idiotic moron, telling you to hurry up and touch up her makeup."

Tina hurried back, "Didn't I just do her makeup?"

Silsa, hands in pockets, whistled nonchalantly and walked away.

Back on set, she set aside all her thoughts and earnestly observed her teacher Martin and Blanchett.

Silsa kept in mind what Martin had just said, that acting was the foundation of everything. Without a solid foundation, there was no point discussing other key elements.