Pokémon Detective Case Files.

"In that case, I'll bet everything on this one too."

Vio didn't even lift his eyelids, responding crisply and decisively.

First round of calls, all in.

Casino legends and gambling kings have both made the same foolish mistake.

Inside the transparent yet enclosed room, Vio glanced sideways at the Plasma Team member acting as the dealer beside him, as if urging his subordinate to quickly push all the chips forward.

The dealer was clearly intimidated by his boss's bold gambling. After a moment of trepidation, he began moving stacks of chips, sweating profusely.

The advantage of having a subordinate as the dealer becomes apparent here – within the limits of the rules, Vio can act arbitrarily, even placing all-in bets with ease.

And so, all the chips on the black and white table began to move, much like soldiers heading to the battlefield, silently and resolutely converging towards the central area.

The castle and hill-like exterior are gone, leaving only a sea of ​​purple chips—a sea worth 20 billion Alliance Coins.

If managed properly, funds of this size could easily acquire dozens of listed companies, and even have the opportunity to monopolize two or three highly profitable industries.

But at this moment, these chips are nothing more than tools for gamblers to compete with their desires.

.

"For a gambler, your strategy is not bad."

Behind the shimmering purple ocean, Vio remained composed. He looked down at the cranberries and began to praise them—

"It's clear that you have some understanding of my card counting techniques. You know that in the formula for analyzing a game, even the hole cards that have been folded and cleaned must be included as indicative information—this is the only part of the formula that relies on human judgment. Therefore, at the beginning of the game, you decided to attack this point, trying to make me make incorrect predictions about the deck by constantly folding and forcing me to fold."

"Since you gave a wry smile and discarded your hand, it must have been a low-ranking mixed suit, right? Since you resisted the urge to bet heavily and bluff, your hole cards, even if not ace cards like JQKA, must at least be a high-ranking hand? Since you went all in without hesitation, you must have drawn a powerful hand that inspires courage... But it's all a lie! You keep repeating this process, using more and more variables to challenge my equations, accumulating errors and distortions, trying to overturn my solitary wave equation at some point."

The evil-type king remained expressionless, but his hand, which had been quietly hidden behind the edge of the table, was now clenched into a fist, with veins showing.

However, this patience was clearly reflected in the huge mirror behind him, making it utterly meaningless.

"The strategy is commendable. But unfortunately, the clock face will reset to zero."

Vio tapped the white edge of the table with his knuckles, the vibrations like the ticking of a second hand traveling over mountains and valleys, all the way to the back of Yueju's clenched fist.

“There is a famous analogy in mathematics: when a train longer than a tunnel enters the tunnel, and its locomotive emerges while its tail has not yet entered the tunnel, a person standing outside the tunnel can automatically complete the train using experience and imagination, without thinking that the train is incomplete. This is the so-called train tunnel self-completion effect.”

"Just last night, on my way off the ship to select the playing cards for the competition, I designed an analytical method based on this train tunnel effect to guess the hand of the Double Dragon poker game. This method serves as the only part of the clock face algorithm that requires subjective operation. Unlike the unpredictable human heart, data and algorithms can neither deceive nor conceal. The face cards shown on the table can be used to guess your face cards according to fixed rules. Even if it cannot hit the bullseye accurately, it can be converted into a database as a reference for subsequent calculations."

“This is not something a human can do…” came a dry sound from Yueju’s throat.

“But I can do it.” Vio’s usually calm and unhurried voice suddenly became high-pitched—

"If a clever gambler can use his mental calculations to control the unpredictable nature of life, which is as volatile as a storm at sea, then a top mathematician can dominate that storm and manipulate it personally. My brain is constantly working with precision. It may not be as powerful as a computer driven by a Megatron, but with all my might, it is enough to calculate all the possibilities at the table right now—your two face-down cards, five community cards, and the probability combination of 52 to the power of 7, guided by previous data and after extreme compression and simplification, have become an unwavering lone wave."

The old man pointed to the card table: "I can't specify the value of every card, but now there are only 19 possible hand combinations, and whichever one of them points directly to my victory."

"Let's reveal our final trump card."

The dealer reached for the face-down cards at the black and white boundary on the table. He intended to flip over all the community cards in succession, but after flipping over only one, he was stopped by a voice.

"Excuse me, I want to continue betting."

The one speaking is Cranberry.

As soon as he finished speaking, a dramatic change occurred inside the transparent room.

Strong winds began to howl around the bottom of the cube, where narrow windows were originally used for ventilation.

The whooshing sound was like a train speeding by.

Amidst the strong winds, something overwhelming surged into the room.

One by one, in clusters, in vast swathes... countless light, thin objects were blown into the sky, crashing into the transparent, reflective glass ceiling before turning into a torrential downpour.

The dealer stopped what he was doing because one of the items flew up to his head and then landed on the back of his outstretched hand.

Those are banknotes.

One, followed by four zeros, ten thousand, is the largest denomination banknote ever issued by the Union. Although it is no longer commonly used and has ceased circulation, its value as a general equivalent remains.

An endless stream of banknotes floated into the sky, fell to the ground, scattered across the table, covered our shoulders, and filled our vision...

"Money, which is just paper with patterns and cannot be matched with its value, is surprisingly popular. The reason for this phenomenon is the trust that the Pokémon League has given it."

As Lingju spoke in a flippant tone, countless banknotes had unknowingly reached past her feet.

"This is the power of trust, which can turn a piece of paper into a fortune, trash into wealth, and nothing into something priceless."

The ventilation vents were completely covered in banknotes. No more banknotes were flying into the air, but the flow of money into the room continued unabated. The gambling room, spanning several hundred square meters, gradually transformed into a sea of ​​banknotes. The water level instantly rose above the calves of the three people present and bravely climbed towards their knees.

"So, these pretty pieces of paper and the purple round cards on the table are the same thing, they are all symbols created based on a certain kind of credit - which means that they are all a kind of chip. In some ways, because they do not go through the casino's cut, their value is even higher than that of regular chips."

The sea level formed by paper money kept rising until it was level with the black and white gambling table, at which point it barely stopped rising.

At this moment, Vio and Lingju were half-submerged in banknotes. With the slightest movement, a loud rustling sound of paper would be heard. People who love money would probably especially enjoy this scene.

"Blueberry, what do you mean by this?"

Vio vaguely guessed his opponent's intentions and, unable to hide his anger, questioned him.

He had previously inspected the ventilation openings, but because he only focused on whether they could provide clues to the gambling, he only checked for cameras or lights to guide the way, ignoring the device beneath the narrow ducts…

The transparent room now resembles a giant piggy bank overflowing with money. The two duelists are no longer visible from the deck; all that can be seen is the bustling display of Alliance banknotes.

"This is all the cash on the gambling ship that's in reserve, a full 15 billion. I'm going to put it on the table as chips for the second round of betting."

—The blueberry bared its fangs menacingly.

"This violates the rules!" The dealer promptly fulfilled his duty this time.

"Putting aside the question of whether cash can be used as chips... if your opponent's total chips are insufficient to call, you can't bet like that!"

Players who cannot call must fold.

If Vio cannot wager a sum equivalent to 15 billion in cash, he cannot continue the current game.

This is a complete foul in Double Dragon Poker. If such a rule were accepted, gamblers could keep raising their bets and forcing their opponents to fold, thus eliminating any competitive element.

“Mr. Vio certainly has enough leverage to follow up.”

The Dark-type Champion flicked the banknotes off his shoulder, then sneered at his opponent.

"As the financial director of the Plasma Group and the sage who controls United Finance, he hasn't spent a single penny since he boarded the gambling ship."

Indeed, even the first chip in blackjack was provided by a kind gambler. From the moment Vio boarded the ship, he had been building a tower without any foundation.

Now, this illusory tower is just one step away from reaching the pinnacle. He's just a hair's breadth away from betting against the gluttonous oranges and perfectly resolving the threat the casino poses to Team Plasma.

But at this moment, the opponent, who was about to be defeated in one move, still shamelessly blocked this step. He relied on a blatantly unreasonable scheme.

"To think you can win my Royal Union empty-handed, without even the risk of losing a single misstep—even Cresselia from the Sinnoh legends couldn't tolerate such a dream, could she?"

Lingju crossed her legs amidst the banknotes, loudly mocking Vio's miscalculation. Her leather shoes pressed heavily against her two hidden cards, an air of unyielding authority that wouldn't allow anyone to reveal them, displaying a thuggish, villainous aura befitting the reputation of the "Evil King."

"If you want to win money at the gambling table, then show me some real awareness!"

Chapter 178 The Casino of Inflation

"Although you claim that the banknotes here are worth 16 billion yuan, they have not actually been counted, have they? It is impossible to determine whether there are counterfeit banknotes mixed in."

Bathed in a sea of ​​ten-thousand-yuan bills, Vio spoke solemnly.

Judging from the scale of the banknotes on site, it should indeed be equivalent to tens of billions...

Vio was not a short-sighted person. One cubic meter of neatly stacked ordinary 100-yuan banknotes was worth about 8.4 million yuan, while the size of 10,000-yuan banknotes was slightly larger than the former, which could be offset by the change in the estimate.

In other words, 160 billion yuan worth of banknotes would require at least 20 cubic meters of volume. Considering the fluffiness caused by randomly scattering banknotes, it would indeed be enough to fill this transparent room to its current size.

But the old man's gaze remained fixed on the gambling table—

The torrential rain of banknotes earlier had filled the sky, but not much actually landed on the gambling tables. This was likely due to the Vietnamese side deliberately adjusting the direction of the blowers.

The few banknotes left on the card table were quickly cleared away by the dealer, without obscuring the unfolding game.

The black and white tablecloth and the amethyst ocean on it still shone brightly, but now, the chips had lost much of their impact. It was less of an ocean and more of a puddle on an island of gambling tables in the heart of this sea of ​​money.

Human intuition is such a volatile thing, easily swayed by more spectacular and novel things. These purple chips should clearly be the most valuable item on site, worth a total of 200 billion Alliance Coins—if they were to instantly transform into the banknotes outside, this secret room would be completely filled with banknotes, and none of the three people present—Vio, the dealer, or anyone else—would escape; they would all drown in this money-scented pulp.

Amateur detectives and tabloid reporters would probably be very interested in such a bizarre death.

Vio lowered his eyes, his gaze still fixed on the cards placed on the table—the two cards he had covered with his own hands, the two bottom cards that Yueju had pressed down with her heels, and the community cards, one of which had been turned over and four remaining…

The points revealed by the revealed card were exactly as the old man had predicted. Of the nineteen possible convergences, seventeen included this card, which was exactly as expected, indicating that both the calculations and his theory were on the right track.

It's impossible for something to go wrong.

A voice rose from the depths of the old man's heart.

This is not only a gambling duel involving billions of dollars, but also a battle to test Vio's dignity as a mathematician.

“Once the chips are on the table, there’s no going back. Since Mr. Vio doesn’t recognize the value of these banknotes, then this round of betting will have to be voided.”

Lingju shrugged and said this in a nonchalant manner.

The shiny black leather shoes, perched on the gambling table, swung back and forth as if taunting the timid person in front of them.

Stay calm, stay calm.

Vio silently counted his breaths as he reminded himself of this.

He somewhat missed the time when he was frantically calculating halfway through a game, when the numbers he added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided occupied most of his mind, leaving no need to think about anything outside of the game.

Blueberry is indeed a respectable gambler. Although Vio was using an unfinished clock face algorithm to manipulate probabilities during the game, and although he had accumulated a chip advantage at the beginning of the game, the cunning man still kept a poker face and kept thinking of new strategies to try to turn the tide.

While Vio was using analytical methods to calculate the probability of the next card appearing, Lanju was also using inductive methods to observe Vio's actions.

He avoided several hands where Vio thought he had a sure win. Sometimes, even when he only bet two chips, Lingju would nervously flee the battlefield like a startled pigeon. In rounds of seemingly reckless large bets, he also cleverly seized moments when the hand was ambiguous, preventing Vio from betting an equal amount, thus allowing Lingju to steal the win and recover a lot of losses.

However, while inductive reasoning derived from observation can become increasingly accurate with repeated observations, it still has a significant shortcoming compared to precise conclusions derived from calculations—it cannot provide a perfect prediction of whether a particular round of gambling will result in a win or loss.

But Vio could, and he had already calculated this outcome.

Now that the final line of the equation has logically been determined, and the points and suits of the first community card are within the threshold, an unexpected event occurred where the oranges raised the bet.

Countless distracting thoughts flooded his mind, making it impossible for him to think about the problem from an absolutely rational perspective.

Why did Blueberry suddenly call? Did he have some kind of confidence? Or was this another bluff, an attempt to feign confidence and then renege on the bet?

Should Vio call? Should he follow the lead of the bettor and bring real money into the game? Or should he let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip by and start a new round of lone-wolf card counting?

Let's test the waters first.

Vio stared intently at his opponent: "As far as I know, you've already staked this entire gambling ship on the table, and the 100 billion chips I originally held have almost drained most of the ship's cash. Now that you're introducing 160 billion in cash into the game, how do you plan to guarantee the proper redemption of the chips after the game begins?"

"Hehe, Mr. Vio, you talk as if you've already won. If you only consider the probability of winning, you'll suffer a great loss in the casino."

"Is there an element of bluff in that?" Yueju sneered.

"Please answer the question directly. This matter concerns the validity of the prize redemption for the competition, and there can be no ambiguity." The old man glared at Yueju and gestured to the dealer beside him.

The subordinate immediately understood and chimed in, "That's right, Mr. Yueju, you can't bring back the goods that were originally used as collateral to gamble!"

“No.” The casino owner calmly raised his index finger. “The only collateral is the Royal Union beneath our feet. There is no collateral relationship between the cash and chips in this room.”

Vio sighed silently. Having handled the Plasma Group's investment matters, he naturally understood the meaning behind Yueju's words—

Just as the Dark-type Elite Four member remarked when releasing the banknotes, the essence of the chips is no different from the currency issued by the Pokémon League—they are both materialized forms of credit.

There is no strict collateral relationship between casino chips and cash, or between currency and national gold reserves. Within an acceptable velocity of circulation, the government can even issue excess currency several times over without affecting the stable operation of the economy; this is the origin of inflation.

That was a brilliant plan. Yueju perfectly utilized her position as a casino owner, acting like a central bank controlling the alliance's finances, to create more than double the amount of chips for herself out of thin air during the game.

"But if we ask to exchange the chips now, you won't have any cash to pay the prize money, right?" The dealer, whose mind was clearly still a bit foggy, asked the question without thinking, making Vio frown.

“Now that your chips are on the table, or even in the prize pool as stakes, they can’t be used to claim prizes.”

The Dark-type Elite Four member said with a smile that was hard to decipher—

“If you give up this round of betting and choose to cash out your chips, then I naturally won’t need to continue betting with cash, and I can use this money to pay your chips.”

This is no gambler, he's practically a seasoned banker... Mathematician Vio, who is both a gambler and a financier, couldn't help but shake his head, marveling at the Pokémon Elite Four's versatility.

However, this is ultimately nothing more than bringing in external funding.

If blueberries can do it, so can Vio.

Although 16 billion is not a small amount, it is still within his authority to allocate funds.

When the betting ends and the tide of money recedes, the true clown, who has no underwear, will be revealed.

So we're back to the original question—