In the loading station of the Chernobyl train station, Tommy pretended to squat down to tie his shoelaces, but his hand reached under a nearby parked train. He quickly took out a paper package that had been frozen stiff from underneath and swiftly stuffed it into a specially sewn hidden pocket inside his clothes.

Then, acting as if nothing had happened, he stood up, patted the snow off his coat, and continued walking forward.

He was one of the members sent from the Empire's mainland to the Northern Territory's Punishment Camp. However, he was relatively lucky as he hadn't committed any particularly serious crimes in the Empire, thus being assigned to relatively easy work.

At the loading station of the Chernobyl train station, he served as a loader and later became a foreman.

As the capital of the Northern Territory, Chernobyl's train station handled a massive volume of goods daily, meaning there was always plenty of work at the loading station. Usually, work started with the first train arriving at dawn and continued until the last train of the night completely cooled its engine.

Tommy's job was to manage a team of loaders at the station, handling the work during the night shift.

This was considered a relatively easy job given that the cargo throughput at the train station, being the capital of the Northern Territory, was already quite large, yet the job was still relatively light.

After all, those with serious criminal records in the Punishment Camp were sent to work in construction, working sixteen hours a day.

Compared to them, Tommy, who only had to work ten hours a day, was indeed relatively fortunate.

As for the eight-hour workday? Sorry, in this era, an eight-hour workday was something workers didn't even dare to dream of.

So, Tommy performed his job diligently, with quick hands and a serious attitude. His sharp eyes made him appreciated by the station's chief, which was why he was given the job as a foreman.

However, to consider Tommy as a law-abiding good man would be a serious mistake.

His presence in the Punishment Camp wasn't due to a wrongful accusation by the Empire; he was originally a gang member from Langton.

Tommy's gang was called the Shelby family, not a particularly large gang. In Langton, their territory was only limited to two streets, which was quite humble.

But precisely because of this, when Langton's police and City Guard followed Perfikot's orders to clean out the gangs and send them to the Punishment Camp in the Northern Territory, the Shelby family didn't suffer any particularly harsh blows.

The Shelby brothers, the gang's core figures, weren't even separated for imprisonment. Tommy and his two brothers, along with the gang's core members, were placed in the same Punishment Camp and then sent to the Northern Territory.

Yes, Tommy was the head of the Shelby family, responsible for the family's "business" on a daily basis.

Since the other family members were basically in the same Punishment Camp, they were generally assigned to positions at the Chernobyl train station and related areas.

This allowed the Shelby family to quickly resume their old business, engaging in smuggling operations.

In this era, smuggling was quite an easy task.

Family members on the Beloburg side would place the goods on the train. Members on the train would escort the goods to Chernobyl, where they would hand them over to Tommy at the loading station, and the line would be completed.

The rest was simply a matter of Tommy, using his position as foreman, to get the goods out of the station and sell them at the black market.

The entire operation chain wasn't complicated, requiring only a few people. The main important points were getting the shipments from Beloburg and then handling the delivery and dispatch at Chernobyl.

Because of this, Tommy's brother voluntarily went to Beloburg to handle the docks and bring in goods from that side.

Meanwhile, Tommy and his brother stayed in Chernobyl, with Tommy handling the receipt of goods at the loading station while his brother managed the black market and the final sales.

The three brothers, along with other members of the Shelby family, took advantage of the snowstorm to run their smuggling operation smoothly. The family made quite a profit and even began to restore some of their past prosperity in Langton.

Tommy was even planning to open a tavern in Chernobyl to serve as the gang's business. This way, the family would have a stronghold, giving them a safe haven and a retreat if problems arose in the future.

One could say that Tommy's plan was excellent. Running smuggling on one hand and a tavern on the other meant the two-pronged approach of the Shelby family promised significant prosperity, barring any unexpected incidents.

However, barring any unexpected incidents meant an unexpected incident was indeed on the way.

As Tommy prepared to leave the loading station with today's received goods—a package of premium ham—he saw the station chief and a few police officers along with a squad of City Guards standing at the entrance, seriously inspecting each worker entering and exiting.

Not good! Tommy immediately became alert, instinctively sensing that they might be coming after him.

Was it because of the black market? Tommy wasn't sure but didn't dare to take any chances.

This smuggling line was too important to the family. It was almost the key to securing the family's footing in the Northern Territory. If it were destroyed, it would be hard for the family to make a comeback in the future.

So, without hesitation, he casually nudged a nearby family member, transferring the goods to him in the moment they passed each other, and patted the member's shoulder as if just casually greeting him.

The other instantly caught on, exchanged pleasantries with Tommy, and turned to walk towards a nearby restroom.

Their primary way of getting goods out of the loading station was indeed having Tommy, as the foreman, sneak them out. But when faced with inspections or when cargo wasn't convenient to carry, they had another alternative route they could use.

After transferring the goods, Tommy relaxed his body slightly, then walked towards the entrance of the loading station. He needed to find out what was going on and help distract the inspection team to allow family members to get the goods out.

"Hey chief, what's going on? Why such a big scene today?" Tommy greeted the station chief warmly, taking a hand-rolled cigarette from his pocket and offering it to him while striking a match to light it.

The station chief squeezed out a smile for Tommy, lit the cigarette from Tommy's flame, and explained: "Today, there's a crackdown on smuggling. According to intel from the police station, goods from the city's black market are being distributed from the train station, so they and the City Guard are here to investigate.

Tell everyone not to be too nervous. They're just doing a routine inspection. As long as you haven't been involved in smuggling, there's nothing to fear."

Hearing this, Tommy couldn't help but have a momentary rigid expression, for he was indeed involved in smuggling.

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