stonecrandall Chapter 184 Resolution - N's Gamble
Chapter 184 Resolution - N's Gamble
Chapter 194 The Solution - N's Gamble
After the ordeal of the power plant explosion, Azure, Hugo, and Touko returned to Flying Cloud City together.
The explosion itself was not complicated, and even seemed more like a farce. However, the involvement of the Plasma Group and N made this event, which did not result in a fatal tragedy, more complex and thought-provoking.
Justice and faith, these glorious terms, seem to be the most bloodthirsty things in the world.
On the waterway back to Feiyun City from Liyong City, Douzi, who is usually full of energy, was unusually silent.
Seemingly after careful consideration along the way, upon returning to the Feathered Residence, this future director, as if giving a speech, expressed her views to the detective—
"Reconciling with a friend you've broken off with is a weak act, but as mature adults living in society, we must learn to be more flexible."
Just like the "melt" move used by soft Pokémon, sometimes weakness can also represent strength.
"what do you mean?"
Hugo saw through the other party's plan, neither denying nor supporting it, but simply respectfully awaiting the landlady's decision.
“Hugo, you once said that to avoid conflict, it’s best to avoid seeing N, right? Well, my view is exactly the opposite—if you refuse to communicate, no change can be made.”
Douzi said with a burning gaze—
"My dream is to make the world more open and more interesting! To let people share their joy, and to let people with different views stop arguing and communicate with each other. Whether it's recording stories through movies or conveying emotions through Pokémon battles, I hope to achieve this. Therefore, I don't intend to give up on my friend N, even if he is a potential criminal plotting to attack the police station and leading a super evil organization. I still want to continue this communication!"
Despite the landlady's bluntness, reconciling with a friend still requires considerable courage. Therefore, Touko needs the detective's assistance.
"Since you're so determined, of course, no problem. But Azure's out right now, are you sure you want to make the call now?"
The detective, holding the black marker and whiteboard that had been shoved into his hand, asked Touko for confirmation.
At this moment, the assistant had temporarily left the office to go to the Pokémon Center to deposit her Pokémon. Only Hugo and Touko remained in the Feathered Residence.
"Of course, I can't let Sister Xiaolan see me looking so pathetic," Douzi said confidently.
Does she think she's being portrayed as an "outstanding junior"?
A moment of suspicion flashed through the detective's mind...
.
On the sofa in the living room of Yuxi Residence, Douzi sat cross-legged on the cushion as if facing a formidable enemy, fiddling with a suspicious device called an instant messaging device.
The device is a phone watch. Although its appearance shows the designer's determination to pursue fashion, in terms of functionality, it is a complete lag behind in the development of mobile communication and a defeated opponent of smartphones.
This communicator was one of two sample units given to Douzi by the distributor after he filmed a promotional advertisement for them. At the time, Douzi, who was carrying unsold goods and unsure what to do with them, ran into N, who was traveling, and casually shoved one at him as well.
This is what made the long-distance call possible.
However, the conversation took a strange turn right at the beginning.
Contrary to the girl's worries, N held no grudge against Touko because of the previous incident. Upon receiving Touko's call, he even seemed pleased as he recounted the strange events he had encountered.
The king of Team Plasma seemed a bit too open, not even concealing the crisis Team Plasma was facing during his narration, and thus describing in detail the two rounds of gambling on the Royal United Ship.
It can only be said that he truly deserves to be the friend chosen by that Douzi; even his thick-skinnedness surpasses that of the other person.
During the phone call, the green-haired youth, who had just won big at the casino, sounded visibly troubled.
"Before boarding the Royal United, I received a communication from my father. If it were up to me, I would never have participated in such a high-stakes gamble. However, on the phone, my father insisted that I stand on the stage as the plenipotentiary representative of Team Plasma to participate in this gamble."
N's voice and images came from the tiny instant messaging device on the screen, and echoed throughout the spacious living room through the external speaker.
"Father - Quixote, one of the Seven Sages, the actual controller of the Plasma Group."
Behind the scenes, out of the camera's view, Detective Hugo remained silent, facing Touko who was on the phone, silently processing the information in his mind.
If we were to ask who would suffer the greatest loss if Blueberry's plan succeeded and Plasma Group was crippled, then...
The answer is undoubtedly the old man whom the green-haired youth called "father".
This person has devoted unparalleled effort to the cult and should be the one most concerned about the outcome of the gamble. Yet this wise leader, who usually remains hidden behind the scenes, has chosen this time to send his pawn, the king's, into the fray.
What is the deeper meaning behind this?
N's voice continued to come through—
"My father asked me to gamble on the financial certificates that were taken away by Akagi, on the condition that the Plasma Group disbanded. He didn't give specific instructions on the gamble, but he thought the simpler the better, and everything else was up to me."
"And then you chose the simplest game, roulette?" Hearing the interesting story, Douzi completely forgot his previous plans and focused intently on asking about the aftermath of the incident.
“Yes.” N nodded on the square screen.
"Although I was forced to the forefront, I had no intention of letting Team Plasma perish, so I seriously considered how to win."
The young man disregarded the conflicting positions of the two sides in the exchange and calmly and frankly expressed his feelings.
“Professor Vio is the most calculating person I’ve ever met, and even he lost to King of the Oranges in Double Dragon Poker, so I don’t intend to repeat the same mistake in card games. Gambling games like slot machines and dice are essentially games of skill and are easily manipulated by the casino, so I won’t consider them either.”
"The only game left to choose from is roulette, where the probability is completely random, right?"
Douzi speculated with a matter-of-fact expression that if she, who knew nothing about the rules of poker, were to board the Royal Union, the only game she could really showcase her skills on would be roulette, which is extremely friendly to newcomers.
"As long as it's a guessing game, the odds of winning can be brought to at least 50% for both sides, allowing everyone to compete fairly and justly based on luck. It does seem like the noble approach that N would choose."
The girl, who relied entirely on intuition in her dealings with people, nodded, making an irresponsible guess that made the detective in front of her sneer.
"I'm not as noble as you think," N said with a wry smile.
"I chose the color-guessing roulette game for two reasons. First, my father advised me to choose the simplest game format possible. Second, I thought this game would be more advantageous for me."
"Advantageous?" The girl with the high ponytail looked puzzled.
"The ball spins uncontrollably on the table, and which corner it lands in is entirely up to fate. Shouldn't you and Mr. Blueberry have an equal chance?"
"If it's roulette on land, then that's certainly true."
The green-haired youth nodded and then shook his head: "However, this is a casino built on a ship, which gives me a chance to improve my chances of winning."
"A ship? What does the winning rate have to do with a ship?" Douzi was completely confused. She could only associate the shape of the roulette wheel with the circular rudder of a ship.
"Unlike the situation on land, the wheel on a ship is actually in motion. Although in theory, an object in uniform linear motion behaves no differently than a stationary object, the navigation of a ship obviously cannot achieve such an ideal motion."
The green-haired youth spoke to Douzi as if he were teaching physics—
"At that time, the Royal United was neither sailing at a constant speed nor in a straight line. In order to pass through a strait, the ship was adjusting its course, moving in an arc in the northwest direction, which gave the ball on the roulette wheel a slight centrifugal force that tilted it to the southeast. Also in order to pass through the strait, the ship had to gradually reduce its speed, which caused things on the ship to move forward instinctively based on inertia—based on these two points, I judged the 'heavier' end of the roulette wheel."
"Hmm...it's like something tied to a rope can be thrown outwards, or a person will fall forward when braking?"
The little gadgets that Douzi gave Hugo came in handy; the two stick figure drawings on the whiteboard suddenly enlightened Douzi.
“That’s right.” N nodded happily.
“In this situation, the center of the ball’s rotation will shift slightly toward the heavier end, making it easier to land in the eastern column. In the eastern column, the white area has two more squares than the blue area. Based on this, I judge that choosing the white column will give you a winning percentage advantage over your opponent by at least five percentage points.”
Gamblers' wins and losses often hinge on mere milliseconds. This mathematical genius, in such a short time, discerned the winning strategy for roulette...
As he wiped the ink off the whiteboard, Hugo sighed quietly—N had already mastered the winning strategy of the game, and a multi-round game system would definitely be more advantageous for him.
Even so, did he still unwaveringly choose to believe his father and gamble using the "simple" method instructed by Quixote?
Without my knowledge, to what extent had N been tamed by his father?
"I see. No wonder Mr. Blueberry looked troubled when you chose white. It's because you chose the side that was easier to win."
Douzi was completely unaware of the problem Hugo was considering. She recalled the details N had recounted in the narrative and suddenly realized.
"In that case, it's not surprising at all that N was able to win in the end..."
No, that's not how it is.
Unexpectedly, the green-haired youth, as if struck on a sore spot, began to urgently defend himself.
"Although I had a theoretical advantage, roughly speaking, it was still close to a 50/50 chance of winning. I had absolutely no confidence in winning. To be honest, even now, just thinking about the moment the ball started rolling makes my stomach hurt..."
“More importantly!” N’s grass-green eyes revealed anxiety, “After the ball landed, I felt that something was not right!”
"Something's not right?" The girl with the high ponytail was even more confused. "The ball landed in the white area; it's clearly N's victory, isn't it?"
“But I still felt something was off—especially after seeing the King of Blueberries’ smile, that feeling became even stronger.”
After losing at gambling, Lantau calmly handed over the Plasma Group tickets he was holding, then seemed to entrust the Royal Union to his casino manager before disembarking and leaving.
He also relinquished his high-ranking position in the Plasma Group, but no one was surprised by this.
Did I really win that 55% chance?
N felt like he had been outmaneuvered by this superstar—it felt like a huge sign had been erected on a cranberry tree that read "Something's Going On," and he was sitting openly under the sign.
"Winning at gambling... that's what it's all about, isn't it?"
Douzi uncertainly expressed his guess—
"To entrust your enormous wealth to an ethereal probability, even if you win, it feels light and unreal – isn't that what gambling is all about? In my opinion, your strange feeling is just a new experience from winning your first gamble."
A perfectly logical guess—even Victor Hugo nodded in agreement with Touko's reasoning; this film buff always manages to come up with the most correct answer at crucial moments.
However, in this matter, Douzi's intuition seems to have been wrong—
“No, this isn’t the first time I’ve experienced this feeling,” the green-haired youth said very clearly to Douzi, then closed his eyes and pondered deeply…
After a ten-second silence, N opened his eyes again.
"That's the feeling of being played!"
The young man said with a sudden realization, his gaze seemingly fixed on something in front of him.
“When I was a child, Zorro played a prank on me. Back then, after the illusion was dispelled and I saw the room in a mess, I felt the same strange feeling as this time.”
mischief?
...I see, I understand now.
Like piecing together the last piece of a puzzle, Hugo finally understood everything that had happened on the Royal Navy.
It turns out it was just an illusion created by the King of Cranberries.
As expected of an Elite Four member with the same attribute as Zoroark, he's truly remarkable.
A con artist doesn't repeat the same tricks—now that Blueberry has left the casino, there's no point in hiding these clever tricks anymore, so let's just reveal them now.
Allowing such a scheme to remain hidden within a casino would be contrary to the aesthetics of detective reasoning.
The detective raised his hand and left words with a black marker.
"Huh? Lights?"
Douzi saw that Hugo had written the word "lights" on the teleprompter, so he subconsciously asked the person he was talking to.
"N, do you remember the lights in the transparent gaming room?"
"Lights? They're breathing lights that change with the rhythm of the background music, right? That's a really pleasing installation design. Is there a problem with that?"
Hugo then wrote five more words on the whiteboard: "The Essence of Color".
"Hmm... what is the essence of color?"
It's unclear whether the question was directed at Hugo or N, but Douzi asked it.
"It is the reflection of light entering the human eye."
As if this was knowledge imprinted in his mind and would never be erased, N answered without hesitation.
"Wait...reflection?"
Then, it was as if time stood still.
The green-haired youth's eyes slowly widened, finally revealing a surprised expression.
"I see, I see! No wonder the roulette wheel chose blue and white as the colors for its sections!"
N was overjoyed, as if he was only now truly realizing that he had won the gamble that would determine the fate of the Plasma Cluster.
"Thank you, Douzi! Thank you so much! Now I completely understand everything that happened in the betting game!"
After the initial surprise and elation, the green-haired youth fully recovered and excitedly thanked Douzi profusely before abruptly ending the communication.
Before ending the call, N felt refreshed and relaxed, as if all his worries had vanished.
In contrast, the girl with the high ponytail stared blankly at the instant messaging device in her hand, which had turned black.
"Hey, detective, what's going on here?"
Douzi's expression turned unfriendly, and he slowly turned his gaze to Hugo, who was looking around innocently.