The male supporting character was actually myself.

After Merritt placed the wine and glasses on the table, closed the door, and left, he opened the bottle and poured two glasses. "Daniel, you shouldn't have done that."

As I often say in family meetings—oh, of course you haven't been yet.

Joyce tapped her fingers on the table, organized her thoughts, and continued, "I often say that the Owen family is no longer the petty thugs who only collected protection money and could be slaughtered at will."

Once I've secured this position, unless someone is seeking personal revenge, no one will directly shoot and kill me.

After all, that would be pointless.

Even if Joyce Irving dies, there will be Daniel Irving, Ed Irving, Edmund Irving, and even Aunt April, Lily, Susanna, Lucy, and a whole bunch of other women who will step forward.

As long as one member of the Owen family is alive, no one else will die in vain!

That's what those guys are afraid of about us, you know?

Daniel, as on the battlefield, individual heroism doesn't work in this era.

Let me tell you what to do in this situation—don't say a word, go back and call for help.

This is our territory, lad!

Why not just block the road and gang up on them? Why take the risk?

The little white cat perched on its host's shoulder, lazily swaying its big tail as it retorted, "Big brother, my host has a mission!"

But, host, he's right.

You were too reckless just now; that was dangerous!

Let's be careful next time, okay?

“I’m confident, Joyce.” Jiang Chen took a sip of his drink and said calmly, “Even if you hadn’t reacted in time to push the gun up, I’m confident I could have left you unharmed.”

We experienced far more thrilling and exciting things on the battlefield than this.

"Calm down, second brother. What we should be discussing now is what those guys are up to."

Joyce took a big gulp of his drink, lit a cigarette, took a drag, and nodded, saying, "Yeah, Daniel."

We've only been on the battlefield for a little over a year, but you've fought for almost four years.

He stepped down just two days ago and witnessed the final victory.

So in your eyes, what just happened was really nothing serious.

But Daniel, you have to remember this.

This is because you have just come from the battlefield. Your body, muscles, and brain are in a wartime state, ready to fight at any moment.

Once you adapt to a comfortable life, your abilities will decline.

Never do anything so dangerous again, understand?

Seeing his brother nod seriously, Joyce breathed a sigh of relief. "You're right, these guys are all fake police officers, but they're definitely not from the Finnan Port area."

I've bribed some of the fake police officers here.

They will tip us off if there are any personnel changes or if they take any actions against us.

Moreover, the local puppet police know our strength and wouldn't act so rashly.

"They are most likely here because of the smuggling ships."

“That’s exactly what I was worried about.” Joyce, with a cigarette between his fingers, took another swig of his drink. “I don’t know whose ship that is.”

Your conversation just now was very interesting.

Clearly, this sheriff is not one of Anderson Jones's men.

Jiang Chen nodded in agreement, "After learning about Anderson's situation, I think it's definitely not the case."

If he has indeed come about the ships, then he is most likely His Majesty the King or one of our Lord Amstershire's men.

He glanced instinctively at the main entrance and lowered his voice, saying, "Besides them, who else could get so much stuff?"

And it must have been transported to the front lines three months ago!

They weren't transporting it away; they were planning to smuggle it out and sell it. There's a lot more to this than meets the eye.

After a moment of contemplation, Joyce replied in an equally inaudible voice, "There is another possibility."

As far as I know, there is a military factory somewhere upstream.

Imagine, three months ago, it was the final stage of the infighting and riots.

It was so chaotic back then, it felt like the end of the world was coming.

What if someone takes the opportunity to steal this batch of goods and hide them?

That sheriff will likely be assigned to pursue the matter, and if he is truly as upright as he claims, he might have been investigating it all along.

In this way, it will have nothing to do with gangs.

"As long as we get him and his followers on board, this shipment can be sold without any worries!"

"Make bold assumptions, verify them carefully, and never rely on luck." Jiang Chen, with a cigarette between his fingers, filled the other person's glass with wine, then raised his own glass, gesturing, "Let's gather intelligence first."

That guy will definitely come knocking again; you need to be careful lately.

"Dangdang!"

The two had just finished talking when the door was kicked open.

Ed, reeking of alcohol, stormed in early in the morning. His sinister gaze swept over the two men. Holding a bottle of liquor, he sat down on the sofa and gulped down two mouthfuls. He sighed, his voice filled with utter disappointment, "Daniel, you've changed."

Chapter 8 Adventure Puzzle Game

Jiang Chen: ? ? ?

Why is the boss, who looks fierce, speaking in such a resentful tone?

"It's starting again." Joyce slumped onto the sofa in exasperation, smoking and staring at the ceiling.

Ed stared at the third brother with a dim look in his eyes and said, "I really miss the old days."

We're the closest of friends, and you always listen to me. We're always getting into trouble and risking our lives together. Daniel, what exactly did they do to you in the US?

You're like a completely different person!

Have you forgotten that I'm the head of the household?

Why didn't you tell me what happened?

What did you guys do last night?

Daniel, look me in the eye and tell me, what the hell have you been doing behind my back?!

Jiang Chen got up and closed the door, saying in a deep voice, "Listen to the word you used—'cause trouble'?"

We're adults now, the bosses; causing trouble is something only kids do.

I think you're suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and are a bit depressed.

This is an illness, it needs treatment!

Ed: ...

"Daniel, you've really changed, those damn American bastards!"

Joyce, seeing that he was about to start rambling again, tapped the table to remind him, "Don't shout here, Ed."

Last night, Daniel called you first. You were drunk; you couldn't even understand your brother's pleas for help. What can we expect from you?

Besides, I've already made the rules: if you've had too much to drink, don't participate in any activities!

Ed, I can understand your troubles.

The root of a person's troubles lies in a lack of ability.

The root cause is that your abilities don't match your ambitions!

You're absolutely right about one thing: Daniel has definitely changed.

I'm glad he's become alert and perceptive; that's good, really.

At least there's someone to brainstorm and discuss strategies with me. This is good for you too, since if we're thinking, you won't need to.

Ed stared at Joyce, speechless for a long time.

After taking a couple more swigs of wine, he said in a muffled voice, "I heard that some fake police officers wanted to kidnap you early this morning."

Daniel only slashed his face, and you're telling him to let the guy go?! Why? He should have been shot dead and thrown into the Sentis River to feed the fish!

"We are the Owen family. To be treated like this on our own doorstep, if we don't fight back fiercely, everyone will think we're easy to bully!"

“No one would dare to underestimate the Owen family because of one or two trivial matters.” Joyce didn’t even lift his eyelids, tapping his cigarette ash in the ashtray with his fingers. “I’ll handle this. You don’t need to worry.”

Seeing that the boss was about to start yelling again, Jiang Chen had no choice but to explain gently: "It's still unclear why those people came, and we don't know who's behind them."

If we rashly kill them, and something bad happens, wouldn't it make the people behind them think that we did it?

The Irving family does not have the habit of taking the blame for others.

Kidnapping, threats, extortion—that's how we built our business. Why would we be afraid of these outdated tactics?

They didn't intend to kill Ed, otherwise they would have just opened fire without further ado.

You must understand that there are no permanent enemies or friends in the world, only permanent interests.

If it's a transaction, they'll come knocking sooner or later.

If there's profit to be made, the deal will proceed peacefully and amicably. Even if they tried to kidnap Joyce; even if I slashed his face.

"Good, good, you handled it very well!" Ed exclaimed, his bloodshot brown eyes sweeping between the two of them with disappointment. "What about me? I'm the head of the family, but what can I do?"

Joyce stood up, straightened his collar, and suggested, "Drink less and stop complaining all the time."

Why don't you go and pay attention to those F country thugs who fled?

Keep a close eye on them and don't let them hide on our turf. Those damn guys will cause trouble for everyone.

The protection money paid by our neighbors isn't for nothing; we have to ensure their absolute safety.

Keep an eye on those fake police officers. I'm really curious about how those guys managed to get past the sentries and get to Ed in front of me. That's what you need to think about.

It's not about who's the boss in the family.