INTERVAL Interlude | The Episode I Loved Most as a Kid

Preface:

With a great enemy before us, our lives hang in the balance.

—Andrei Zhdanov

"You might not know much about Volvo's Iron Knight. This all-terrain freight truck has been modified by the Gunsmith and boasts a maximum of 2,800 horsepower and peak torque of 6,700 newton-meters. Its D13 engine block has been rebuilt and precision-honed, ensuring every drop of oil is evenly distributed to the pistons!"

"It can go from zero to one hundred kilometers per hour in just 3.8 seconds. Its lightweight body kit and front battle plow are mostly made of forged carbon fiber and titanium alloy."

"This truck is the crown jewel of the JoeStar workshop and a prime example of the Gunsmith's mechanical machining skills. The club has seven more dump trucks like this one. They're often used as riot-control vehicles, assault vehicles, and fire engines, and as transports for Guangling Zhixi's elite field units."

Thumb recited the truck's features like an encyclopedia, telling his young passenger Pinky all about their boss's prized machine.

He'd never imagined he'd get another chance to return to the front lines, kill enemies, and earn merit. Once upon a time, Judas's Immortal Alliance had been a supercorporation in the eyes of blood-awarding organizations. As a fundamentalist of the Madness Butterfly Sect, Mana Thumb had wanted to find a powerful patron, and there was no getting around the Alliance.

It was like in the real world: a small-time workshop owner like him, running The Hand of Omnipotence, wanted to expand his business, hire people, and make money. But no matter how many administrative districts he traveled through or how many negotiations he had, he kept running into the same few partners. And when he dug into their backgrounds, most turned out to be illegal armed groups backed by the Immortal