Operation Red Book

"Please bring the scales up. Executioner, please continue. Once the meat is cut off and weighed on the scales, then your Highness can make the final decision."

"permit."

The old voice fell as the bronze scales came on stage. Moriarty looked peaceful, but Lisa and Antonio beside him had pale faces.

Sorry, I forgot that their faces are originally white, but please believe me, their panicked looks are as ridiculous as the first clowns in the circus.

"Your Highness! I object!" Lisa knelt beside Antonio again.

"The executioner has admitted that he can't take a full pound of flesh. I think the contract can be dropped!"

"Why."

Moriarty spoke calmly, his gentle voice forming a sharp contrast with Lisa's sharp voice.

"Your Highness, do you know probability?" Moriarty bent down and said respectfully.

"No mystification in the courtroom!" Lisa's shrill voice always interrupted Moriarty's every word.

"No, this is a profound knowledge. I would like to call it the most wonderful treasure given to mankind by God..."

"You keep talking nonsense. This is just a trick!"

"quiet!"

"Bam—"

The gavel slammed down, and Moriarty and Lisa lowered their heads at the same time.

"You go on."

"Friends who often go to casinos know that playing cards requires probability, flipping coins requires probability, skipping stones requires probability, and walking also requires probability..."

“Everything in the world is full of probability, whether it is heaven or hell, whether it is the human world or the underworld, humans are surrounded by invisible probabilities, so I believe in probability very much.”

"Whether the executioner can take exactly one pound of flesh is a matter of probability. As you said, he may take five pounds of flesh, he may take 0.1 pound of flesh, or he may take 0.999999 pounds of flesh..."

Moriarty walked slowly forward and stood in a straight line with the executioner holding the iron knife.

"God has a 50% chance of flipping a coin, and a 50% chance of flipping the coin to heads, taking a whole pound of flesh as the winning side of the coin. Who says that success doesn't have a certain probability?"

Joshua touched the sweat beads on his nose guiltily. There was no such scene in "The Merchant of Venice".

He thought of the "advantage" that Moriarty had mentioned before, and he was a little confused again. Is the so-called advantage the modern probability theory?

However, what is the question of probability? Whether or not exactly one pound of flesh can be taken depends on the mood of the executioner.

As for where the executioner's mood came from, the answer, of course, is the judge on the podium. The judge and Antonio are aunt and nephew, so it is obvious which side the scales of fairness will lean towards.

Has Mr. Moriarty also learned how to bluff? He only lost his composure after all this talk...

"What if the executioner insists on cutting off nine-tenths of a pound of flesh?" screamed Lisa.

"God's coin is a probability. Success and failure are determined by fate. If the devil blocks it, it's not certain..."

Moriarty glanced at Lisa with a relaxed tone.

"The executioner belongs to the court and is protected by the law. Fairness is the foundation of the law, and the executioner is of course also subject to fairness. I believe he will do his best, otherwise..."

"Tsk! Are you saying that the executioner is under the jurisdiction of the judge, and that His Highness will deliberately collude with you people..."

"quiet--"

"Bam—"

The dull thud of the gavel interrupted Moriarty's devilish whispers.

Lisa breathed heavily, with a barely perceptible tremor in her voice.

"Well, Your Highness! The contract only mentioned one pound of flesh, and it does not include the sacred blood and skin. If any drop of blood is shed or any piece of skin is cut off during the process of taking the flesh, they will be sentenced to death!"

Joshua's heart skipped a beat. This was the key evidence that helped Portia defeat Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice".

Who said it was easy to break these worlds? Joshua lowered his head in despair.

Jacob and the others looked indifferent and did not take the endless sea and the burnt smell seriously at all.

"Okay." Moriarty said cheerfully, "We have hundreds of ways to solve this problem. Joshua, tell me one."

It was like being suddenly called by the instructor during a meeting. In the blink of an eye, goose bumps covered the back of Joshua's head.

“I, I, I…” Joshua stammered with a red face.

The gears of his brain were running at full speed, so he had to resort to his childhood fantasy: "Tie it up with ropes for several days, so that the pound of flesh will completely necrotize, and then use a knife to cut open the skin and take it out."

Moriarty looked at him with a faint smile, and Joshua lowered his head uneasily.

He felt a little uneasy, but more confused. In the current situation, he totally didn't understand Moriarty's thinking and ideas.

"I think it would be a good idea to roast him over the fire, dry out all the blood, and then cut off his flesh," Alexander said in a low voice.

"Turn him sideways and let someone catch it with their mouth underneath so that not a drop of blood will appear in anyone's sight. How about this method?" Jacob said in a raised voice.

"Throw him into the deepest ice in Antarctica and freeze his whole body solid!" Thomas said happily.

Joshua had already gasped for no apparent number of times. This was not the center of the calm sea, but the reddest tattoo on Satan's back.

"All good!" Moriarty smiled.

"This is intentional murder, Your Highness!" Lisa's face turned red with anger.

"You just said that the skin cannot be cut and blood cannot be shed, but you didn't say what method should be used."

"No! The contract clearly states it! It's just a pound of flesh cut from the heart!"

"The contract is indeed very clear. It does not stipulate how I should take this pound of flesh."

"You can't take Antonio's life!"

"Then return all the money you owe me."

"You are such a conscienceless bastard! Even the dog in front of Otcharov's gate doesn't bark like you! You are a hundred times more disgusting than the most disgusting old bald man in the world!"

"It's really frightening that you scold me like this, but you are the one who is unreasonable. I borrowed money and went to court, but I am going to be executed."

"Your Highness!"

"Your Highness!"

"quiet!"

"Boom bang bang-"

There was a hint of anger in the old voice, and the gavel struck three times in a row. The entire wooden board was vibrating, and those who didn't know would have thought that a giant deep-sea squid had hit the board.

"Antonio, what do you think?"

"Auntie...I don't want to die, and I don't have the money to pay back..."

Antonio lowered his head and spoke weakly.

"Lisa, where's your verdict?"

"Your Highness! These five people dared to mock the court. No matter what the outcome of this case is, they should be sentenced to death according to the law!"

Lisa knelt on the ground, her voice firm and confident.

"What about you?"

Joshua slowly looked towards the podium. Although there was no sun, the judge's face was shrouded in a haze, so white that not a single line could be seen.

"I think this is not a question of whether to pay back the money or not, or whether to cut the meat or not..."

Joshua said slowly, and the string in his mind seemed to be plucked gently at some point.

"The contradiction in this matter does not lie here at all. We don't have a billion pounds or anything, and we didn't lend money to Antonio, Mr. Moriarty. This is not our problem. We just have to survive!"

Moriarty smiled gently at Joshua, and he slowly turned his head away, his tone unquestionable.

"Your Highness, I believe that the five of us have behaved well and have not violated any law. The person who deserves the most punishment is not in Venice."

"What nonsense!" Lisa seemed even more agitated. "Are you saying that His Highness's judgment was wrong?"

"Lisa, let him continue." The old voice scolded the sharp-tongued woman.

"Your Highness, I believe that the whole thing started with Bassanio and should end with Bassanio. If Antonio signed the contract against his will, then the contract is invalid."

"What about the money you lent?"

"One billion in principal, plus 500 million in interest. One hundred million for each of our five lives is enough. Mr. Antonio's beloved one will cost almost one billion..."

"make a deal.