Don’t raise unruly people in extreme cold weather

Chapter 392 Smuggling Gang

In the loading and unloading station of Chernobog Railway Station, Tommy pretended to squat down to tie his shoelaces, but his hand touched the bottom of a train parked nearby, and pulled out a frozen paper bag from underneath, and quickly stuffed it into a secret pocket specially sewn on the inside of his clothes.

Then he pretended nothing had happened, stood up, brushed the snow off the corners of his clothes, and continued walking forward.

He was one of the members of the punitive camp who was sent to the North from the Empire. However, he was lucky and had not committed any particularly serious crimes in the Empire, so he was assigned to a relatively easy job.

He worked at the loading and unloading yard of the Chernoborg railway station as a stevedore and later became a foreman.

As the capital of the North, Chernoborg has a huge daily cargo throughput at its railway station, so the loading and unloading station has a lot of work to do. Generally speaking, it starts when the first train arrives in the early morning and continues until the furnace of the last train cools down completely late at night.

Tommy's job is to manage a team of stevedores at the loading and unloading station and to be responsible for the night shift at the loading and unloading station.

This is a relatively easy job. Even though Chernobog is the capital of the North and the cargo throughput of the railway station is very large, this job can still be considered relatively easy.

After all, the prisoners in the penal camp who had committed serious crimes were sent to work as construction workers and had to work 16 hours a day.

Compared to them, Tommy, who only has to work 10 hours a day, does have it relatively easy.

As for the eight-hour workday? Sorry, in this era, the eight-hour workday is something that even dreamers dare not dream of.

So Tommy has always done a good job in his job. He is hardworking, serious, and has a keen eye. Therefore, he is highly appreciated by the stationmaster of the loading and unloading station. It is also because of this that he was able to get the job of foreman.

But if you think Tommy is a good person who abides by the law, you are wrong.

The reason why he was sent to the punitive camp was certainly not because the Empire was unkind and wrongly accused a good man, but because he was originally a member of Langton's gang.

The gang Tommy belongs to is called the Shelby Family, a not particularly large gang. When they were in Langton, their territory only covered two streets, which was considered very shabby.

But precisely because of this, when the police and city guards of Longton cleaned up the gangs in Longton according to Perfectcott's will and organized them into a punitive battalion and sent them to the North, the Shelby family did not suffer any particularly severe blows.

The three Shelby brothers, who were the core of the gang, were not even imprisoned separately. Tommy and his two brothers were assigned to the same punitive camp as the backbone of the gang and then sent to the North.

Yes, Tommy is the head of the Shelby family and is usually in charge of the family's "business".

Since the rest of the family was basically in the same punitive camp, they were basically assigned to the Chernoborg Railway Station and related posts.

This led the Shelby family to quickly return to their old business and engage in smuggling.

In this era, smuggling is a very easy thing.

All the family members in Beloberg need to do is put the goods on the train, and the family members on the train will escort the goods to Chenoborg, and then hand them over to Tommy at the loading and unloading station, and this route will be open.

The rest was nothing more than Tommy using his position as a foreman to take the goods out of the loading and unloading station and then sell them on the black market. The entire industrial chain was not complicated and did not require many people. The key points to pay attention to were the purchase and loading of goods from Beloberg and the receipt and shipment of goods from Chernoborg.

Because of this, Tommy's brother took the initiative to go to Beloberg, responsible for opening up connections at the dock and then purchasing goods from there.

Tommy stayed in Chernoborg with his brother. Tommy was responsible for receiving the goods from the loading and unloading station, while his brother was responsible for watching over the black market and shipping the goods.

The three brothers, together with other members of the Shelby family, took advantage of the snowstorm to operate this smuggling route very successfully. The Shelby family made a lot of money, and even regained some of its previous prosperity in Langton.

Tommy even planned to open a tavern in Chernoborg as a gang business, so that the family would have a foundation, and even if they encountered any problems in the future, they would have a place to stay and a way out.

It can be said that Tommy's plan is very good. The Shelby family, who walks on two legs, is engaged in smuggling while running a tavern. If nothing unexpected happens, they will surely prosper.

However, if nothing unexpected happens, something unexpected is going to happen.

When Tommy was about to leave the loading and unloading station with the goods he had received today, a package of high-quality ham, he saw the stationmaster, several policemen, and a team of city guards standing at the door of the loading and unloading station, checking every loader and unloader coming in and out with a serious expression.

Oh no! Tommy immediately became alert, and he instinctively felt that this must be directed at him.

Was it because of the black market? Tommy wasn't sure, but he didn't dare take the risk.

This smuggling route is too important for the family. It can almost be said to be the key to the family's foothold in the North. If it is destroyed, it will be difficult for the family to make a comeback in the future.

So he pulled a family member next to him without hesitation, transferred the goods to the other person at the moment the two of them crossed each other, and then patted the other person on the shoulder, looking like he was just saying hello normally.

The other party immediately understood, greeted Tommy, and turned to walk towards the toilet.

The way they took the goods out of the loading and unloading station was indeed mainly relying on Tommy to smuggle the goods out with the help of his identity as a foreman, but if they encountered inspections or some goods were inconvenient to carry on their bodies, they would also have another route to use.

After transferring the goods, Tommy relaxed his body a little and walked towards the door of the loading and unloading station. He needed to figure out what was going on and help family members attract the attention of these inspectors so that they could get the things out.

"Hey, stationmaster, what's going on? Why is there such a big scene today?" Tommy greeted the stationmaster enthusiastically. At the same time, he took out a cigarette he rolled from his pocket and handed it to the other party, then struck a match and moved closer.

The stationmaster forced a smile at Tommy, lit a cigarette on the fire Tommy handed over, and then explained to him: "Today, the higher-ups are investigating smuggling. According to the tip-off from the police station, the black market goods in the city are being distributed from the train station, so they and the city guards are here to conduct an inspection.

Tell everyone to relax, they are just doing a routine inspection, as long as you are not involved in smuggling, you don’t have to be afraid.”

Hearing this, Tommy's expression stiffened for a moment. He happened to be involved in smuggling.

(End of this chapter)