Operation Red Book

"Nobody! That's the great Antonio..."

Before the sharp voice had finished, the crowd of gentlemen moved, and a man with a bitter face pushed aside the white faces around him and came out.

"Antonio! What are you doing out here?!"

"He pointed his chin at me... They were going to kill me..."

"That old Rock Sugar won't do anything to you! You stupid ass head!"

"quiet--"

"Bam—"

The sound of the gavel striking was more powerful than ever before.

Antonio fell to his knees with a plop, and his sobbing voice trembled into everyone's ears: "Aunt...save me..."

"quiet--"

"Bam—"

The old voice ruthlessly interrupted Antonio's desire, and Joshua saw the frown on every white face.

"Let them go first."

The pain from the twisted shoulder gradually disappeared, but the numbness and itching increased instead of decreasing.

The soldier let go of Joshua's shoulder, but kicked him in the knee at the same time.

Joshua was forced to kneel on the ground. Even though he felt unwilling, it was not convenient to reveal it in this situation.

"What exactly is the case?"

"Your Highness! The file is here! Please examine it carefully!"

The white-faced woman with the shrill voice rushed out with the documents in her hand. She was round and fell beside Antonio like a sparrow that couldn't fly.

The tobacco-chewing woman finally came out from behind a pile of brown paper. She spread out the file in the sharp-tongued woman's hand and read it aloud.

"Antonio borrowed 1 billion from these five foreigners three months ago and signed a contract with them. If Antonio does not repay the principal and interest of 1.5 billion after three months, a pound of flesh from Antonio's heart will be cut off."

Familiar scenes flooded into Joshua's mind like fragments of memories. He blinked quickly and turned to look at Moriarty.

"Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice." Joshua's mood suddenly sank.

This is one of Shakespeare's world-famous plays. The plot of the fourth act "Court Struggle" is particularly admired by later generations, and the "cut a pound of flesh" proposition it set has also become a popular classic.

“Antonio, why do you want a loan?”

"I want to help my friend Bassanio, who wants to marry Portia, the daughter of the rich man, but he is in debt."

"Why are you helping your friend Bassanio?"

"He said that if I didn't help him, he would let the black witch on the other side of the ocean curse me and my dear Lisa. He wanted me to be infertile and have no children..."

Joshua lowered his head and bit the corners of his mouth that he couldn't help but curl up.

"No laughing in court!" The old voice was as loud as a bell.

"Your Highness! Your Highness! You have to decide for us!"

The woman next to Antonio screamed like a mammoth, and her forehead hit the wet wooden board with a loud "bang, bang" sound.

"These five people really have no feelings at all! They want to cut out the flesh of your dear nephew's heart! It's filled with you!"

The key to the problem was once again thrown to Moriarty and others. Joshua couldn't figure out how the spearhead suddenly turned around.

"That's ridiculous!" Moriarty immediately retorted, "It's only natural to pay back your debts. If you don't want to be slaughtered, just pay up."

"Antonio, where is the money you borrowed?"

"It's already everywhere in heaven and earth... I took the money and gave it to Bassanio immediately. He took the money and completed the wedding with Portia... The wedding was held in the casino."

"Where's Bassanio?"

"In Greece, in Vienna, in Russia... but not in Venice."

"Where's Portia?"

"She was locked in the attic by her father after Bassanio disappeared."

It’s really “great”, Joshua said silently in his heart.

His upper and lower lips were numb and he didn't know how many times he had tried to hold back his laughter.

"That means there is no money to pay back."

Moriarty said with a faint smile, his tone deliberately imitating the tone of Shakespeare's characters.

"Your Highness, I think my request is reasonable. If the signed contract is to be settled in such a hasty manner, then to hell with all the laws in the world!"

Joshua was confused now, and Moriarty knew clearly that this was an unsolvable proposition.

In the original work, Portia used this loophole to refute Shylock.

Of course, in the court here, the hateful Jewish "Shylock" is Joshua and the other five.

"If Antonio cannot repay the loan, he must voluntarily cut off a pound of flesh from his heart. Your Highness, the executioner is waiting for your order with a sharpened iron knife."

The woman chewing tobacco said expressionlessly. She had already changed three tobaccos in her mouth and would spit each one onto Antonio's tragic face.

"You! You jackals, tigers and leopards! You are red crabs that live on the bottom of the sea all day long! You are poisonous scorpions that live in the mud all your life! You only know how to bully the weak! You only know how to bully poor Antonio..."

The sharp-tongued woman screamed, and she fell backwards on the ground like a round cockroach with its four legs facing the sky.

Although her mouth was full of insults to others and defense of Antonio, Joshua could not help but catch the smile on the corner of the woman's mouth.

The sea breeze blew from the right, stirring up gusts of cold in Joshua.

At the same time, the seagulls on the left made bursts of ridicule, which aggravated his discomfort.

"Mr. Moriarty, they are in the same group. Since they dared to sign the contract, they must have thought of a reason..."

"Of course I know."

"Then we will definitely lose this lawsuit..."

"Who said we would lose?" Moriarty put on a polite smile. "On the contrary, our advantage is much greater than theirs."

"Advantage? What advantage do we have? Eat two poisonous seaweeds to poison them before burning them to death?"

Even though he was shaking with fear, Jacob's mouth remained firm.

“Isn’t it a great advantage that we know what arguments they want to make?”

Moriarty spoke calmly, as if the cold light of the iron knife in the executioner's hand had not flashed across his eyes.

"Call the executioner and execute him."

"Bam—"

The gavel struck again, and the executioner walked barefoot to Antonio.

The soldiers rushed forward and stripped Antonio of his shirt layer by layer until his chest was bare.

"That spot near the chest, a pound of flesh, the executioner's iron knife, start."

The order came like an irresistible thunder.

Antonio sat dejectedly, and the executioner raised the sword in his hand high.

The seagulls stopped making noise, the sea breeze stopped whistling, and the waves echoed quietly.

The world was still and silent, as if they were all waiting for the sound of the knife falling.

Joshua held his breath and stared straight at the iron mask on the executioner's face.

It was like a track sliding towards the node of destiny, and he knew it was coming.

"Your Highness! I have objections!"

Lisa rolled up from the ground and knelt on the ground, with an inexplicable determination in her sharp voice.

Joshua stared at Lisa's back, afraid of missing a word.

"What's your objection?"

Lisa stood up triumphantly and snatched the file away.

"Please listen carefully to the contents of this absurd contract - if the debtor fails to repay the money on time, the creditor will cut a pound of flesh from the debtor's heart as punishment."

"I heard it clearly, so what?" An old voice came down from the podium.

"The contract stipulates a pound of flesh on the heart. We abide by the agreement and agree to the executioner's execution...but..."

Lisa cleared her throat, and her two dark gray eyebrows seemed to be drooping up to her forehead.

"The executioner can only cut off one pound of meat. It can't be 1.5 pounds or 0.8 pounds. Can you count so accurately?"

The next moment, everyone's eyes were focused on the executioner.

The executioner slowly shook his head, and Joshua could not see the expression beneath the executioner's iron mask.

"Since it is impossible to accurately take a whole pound of flesh, the contract is invalid! These five people have committed the heinous crime of intentional homicide and should be sentenced to death!"

Lisa put away the file in her hand, and beneath her white lips were even whiter teeth.

"efficient."

"Bam—"

Joshua's palms were slightly sweaty, and he slowly rolled his eyes, trying to see how Moriarty would respond.

"I agree!"

Moriarty raised his right hand, with the same standard smile on his face.