The Shelby family's petty schemes are insignificant to the entire Northern Territory, and such matters aren't even worth bringing to light.

After all, though the Shelby family is also involved in smuggling and black market operations, just as Tommy speculated, they're merely small fry. After about a week of detention, they were released.

Of course, they were fined a substantial amount, and Tommy and the others lost their jobs at the loading station.

Since they were still inmates of the Punishment Camp, after losing their jobs, Tommy and the others had to report back to the Punishment Camp and wait for new assignments.

And this was precisely what Tommy feared most.

Given that they came to the Northern Territory as criminals, now they've committed crimes again, with added offenses, the Shelby family members could likely be sent off to some construction site as laborers.

Compared to their previous life as dockworkers, the difference is vast, causing Tommy to worry if this might lead to the disbanding of the family.

In the end, the Shelby family is just a small gang, with only the three brothers being blood relatives, and a few other relatives; everyone else joined believing the family could protect them.

Once they realize the family can't protect them, these lower-level gang members are very likely to leave the gang.

Especially since the Shelby family isn't a big gang, it lacks control over the lower-level members. When someone wants to betray or leave the family, they generally don't have effective measures or constraints.

In the past, Tommy could still take people to beat up the defectors, but now? Sorry, he's like a clay idol crossing the river; he can't even protect himself.

No matter what, he's the foreman, and being the ringleader, he's bound to be held accountable for this mess.

However, Tommy probably never dreamed that just when he was thinking about how to escape punishment from the aftermath of this incident, his fate took an unexpected turn.

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"Lord, the special operation targeting black markets and smuggling has been a complete success. In one week, we've eradicated twelve black market locations, broken up seven smuggling routes, and arrested 516 individuals. Several major smuggling gangs and forces have been uprooted, significantly improving the market order and social security in Chernobyl," the police chief of Chernobyl reported to Perfikot, with a hint of boasting.

It was certainly warranted. After all, they had worked hard for a week, yielding substantial results. The confiscated goods nearly filled the police station's evidence storage, and they had to temporarily rent another warehouse just to accommodate the vast amounts of goods.

Regarding these goods, the police chief had intended to skim a little off the top as usual, but before he could, he received a warning from the intelligence agency. Perfikot's attention to the matter made him cautious.

Thus, as he saw the warehouse pile up with goods, the entire police station was eager yet under his strict orders, no one dared to entertain any ideas about these goods.

Don't consider the police of this era too clean; even the police from Perfikot's original world typically return a portion of confiscated goods to the original owner, and the remaining unclaimed items are auctioned off, with some proceeds going to them and the rest allocated to the unit handling the case as funds.

And this is in a relatively well-legislated, clean police system.

Encountering corruption... there was once an absurd story in some Eastern country where a police station confiscated over a thousand kilograms of marijuana, stored it, and it was all eaten by rats.

Therefore, when Perfikot assigned police and the City Guard to investigate smuggling, she specifically instructed the intelligence agency to keep a keen eye on these officers, to prevent them from lining their pockets, lest she finishes with the smuggling investigation only to start probing embezzlement.

However, looking at the material list reported by the police chief and comparing it to the intelligence agency's report, it appeared the warning was effective.

"You've worked hard. I will remember the merits of your police station for this operation," Perfikot nodded with some satisfaction, then looked at the police chief, encouraging him, "Keep it up. I recall you retired from the Guard Corps, right? Good job, you didn't disgrace the Guard Corps."

Upon hearing Perfikot's praise, the police chief hurriedly stood at attention and saluted, loudly shouting the slogan, "For the Northern Territory, everything for Brandelis!"

The police chief certainly wouldn't miss such a moment to pledge loyalty, and as a bureaucrat with significant political attributes, shouting the correct slogan was crucial.

Even though shouting "For the Empire" would have been fine, evidently, it lacked the appeal to Perfikot compared to "For the Northern Territory."

"Very good, I'm pleased with your dedication," Perfikot, although finding the slogan slightly embarrassing, still said to the police chief, "You can keep half of the confiscated goods at your police station as a reward for this operation. I hope you'll continue to work hard and not let me down, nor betray your former honor."

If you want the horse to run, you must feed it well. Mere verbal rewards are not enough for the police station and the grassroots officers, so Perfikot generously allocated a portion of the confiscated goods as material rewards for the police station for this operation.

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