Chapter 20: I wonder how Fatty is doing.

Looking at these discussions, scenes flashed through Liu Qian's mind: Zhang Fan at the northern defense line, wielding his black gold heavy hammer, crushing fierce beasts like a god of war. She also remembered that silent, taciturn figure who always sat in the corner during high school. These two completely different images intertwined, leaving her with mixed feelings.

Liu Qian finally couldn't help it. Her fingers typed rapidly: "Actually, that personage has a lot to do with us."

The group chat went silent for a moment, then was instantly flooded with question marks.

"Related? What kind of relation?"

"Liu Qian, stop keeping us in suspense, tell us!"

"@Liu Qian, what is going on?"

Liu Qian regretted it as soon as she sent it, but she couldn't withstand the classmates incessantly tagging her and asking for answers. She took a deep breath, as if having made up her mind, and typed out a line:

"That Gold Medal Consultant, the future branch minister of Qinggang City, is Zhang Fan from our class!"

"..."

"？？？？？"

"Zhang Fan? No, Class Beauty, can you please stop joking!"

"Is it really that... that Zhang Fan from the corpse collection team in our class?!"

"Liu Qian, are you kidding? How is that possible!"

"Exactly, didn't Zhang Fan fail the college entrance exam and go to the corpse collection team?"

Everyone found it impossible to connect that former classmate, once regarded as a "loser," with the legendary peerless powerhouse who killed a half-step lord-level fierce beast with three hammer strikes and saved the city.

Facing the tidal wave of skepticism, Liu Qian only replied with one sentence: "I saw it with my own eyes. Believe it or not, it's up to you."

Then she said no more.

After intense discussion in the group, seeing that the class beauty Liu Qian was no longer speaking and seemed extremely serious, everyone gradually fell into a long silence.

Everyone was digesting this earth-shattering news.

Could it be... true?

Gradually, some began to believe it. After all, the class beauty Liu Qian had no reason to deceive them about a fact that would be exposed tomorrow.

After accepting this result, everyone had different expressions.

Many people recalled their past neglect or even ridicule of Zhang Fan, and many felt their faces burning.

But for more people, their eyes were shining.

"Go! We must go!"

"I didn't expect Zhang Fan... no, Minister Zhang is actually our classmate!"

"I really misjudged him before..."

"This is a huge opportunity! Classmate bonds are worth more than anything in this world!"

Almost without further mobilization, everyone in the class group reached a consensus: they must go to see him off tomorrow, and no matter what, they had to strike up a conversation with this "old classmate" Zhang Fan.

If they could show their faces in front of this old classmate Zhang Fan and express some closeness, perhaps it could save their lives in the future!

...

The next day, the main road leading out of Songjiang City was crowded with people.

High-level officials like Minister Chen Guodong of the Martial Artists Alliance and Inspector Ye Zhenxi stood at the very front with solemn expressions. Behind them were almost all the elite martial artists and representatives of the City Defense Force of Songjiang City, a dense mass of people, spontaneously forming a long line, the atmosphere solemn and fervent.

The classmates also arrived early, but they soon discovered that they couldn't squeeze to the front at all.

Those powerful martial artists whose names they could only hear on TV or in rumors were currently standing respectfully in the front. These students, who had just left campus, could only stand far away on the periphery of the crowd, standing on tiptoe to look.

"My god, so many big shots are here to see Zhang Fan off?"

The classmates looked with complex eyes at the figure surrounded in the center like stars around the moon. Although they were far away, that familiar yet strange profile, and that composed demeanor, were truly Zhang Fan!

"It really is him..." Someone muttered to themselves, their face filled with disbelief.

"How long has it been... he has already reached this height. And we are all just getting started!"

"If I had known back then... sigh!"

Many people regretted it deeply; if they could have had a good relationship with Zhang Fan back then, even just being on familiar terms, they would have a massive backer in this perilous world now.

Zhang Fan's keen perception also allowed him to see Liu Qian and those others from his class. He just took a casual glance, but didn't linger his gaze there.

Zhang Fan had a brief conversation with Chen Guodong, Ye Zhenxi, and others.

"The waters in Qinggang City run deep; be careful with everything." Chen Guodong patted Zhang Fan's shoulder firmly, his tone earnest.

"If you have any needs, Songjiang City will always be your backing." Ye Zhenxi also said solemnly, her beautiful eyes carrying a trace of an imperceptible, different emotion.

Zhang Fan nodded without saying much.

He swept his gaze over the faces before him with whom he had fought side by side, then waved casually toward the dense crowd of common people further away.

The next moment, his figure moved, and he appeared tens of meters away. With another flash, his figure was already far away, disappearing at the end of the road.

Zhang Fan, with one person and one hammer, embarked on the journey to Qinggang City.

"Qinggang City... that fatty is in Qinggang City."

In his heart, Zhang Fan thought of that former classmate, Pang Panshi, who used to be chubby and only stayed at Songjiang No. 6 Middle School for half a semester before transferring to Qinggang City.

That fatty classmate had the best relationship with Zhang Fan back then. But after all these years, he didn't know how Pang Panshi was doing now.

"Fatty, I wonder how you are doing now?"

...

Leaving the area of Songjiang City, the scenery on both sides of the road gradually became desolate.

The former town settlements were now nothing but broken walls and ruins, covered by crazy plants and the claw marks of fierce beasts. Occasionally, one could see some rusted car wrecks and white bones, silently telling of the tragedy of the disaster.

"In this era, only behind high city walls is there a place for humans to stay." Zhang Fan looked at the desolation before him, his heart not feeling much waves. He had long been accustomed to this scene.

During the journey, a group of ignorant low-level wolf-like fierce beasts darted out from the ruins along the road, their scarlet eyes staring at this lone "prey."

Zhang Fan didn't even use the mystic heavy mountain-collapsing hammer; he just brought his fingers together like a knife and casually slashed out a few sharp bursts of energy.

"Puchi!"

"Puchi!"

Blood flashed, and over a dozen fierce beasts died instantly.

[Contact with low-level fierce beast remains, obtained attribute point +1...]

[...]

The notification sounds rang one after another in his mind, contributing another 20 attribute points to him. Adding the 32 points remaining from before, the total attribute points reached 52.

"Just right, I can upgrade my movement technique." Zhang Fan's mind stirred, and he invested 52 points into "Thunder Shadow Step (Perfected)."

The attribute points turned into vast insights, and his understanding of speed sublimated once again! When Thunder Shadow Step was perfected, it was about transforming into a thunder shadow, using afterimages to confuse the enemy. But at this moment, a more extreme state, closer to the origin of spatial jumping, emerged: Thunder Instant Step!

It was no longer about leaving afterimages, but near short-distance teleportation! Although the distance was limited, in small-range maneuvering, the speed was extreme, almost ignoring conventional physical obstacles!

[Thunder Shadow Step] advanced to [Thunder Instant Step (Entry Level)]!

Zhang Fan tried to activate it, his figure swayed, and he instantly appeared a hundred meters away, leaving only a trace of imperceptible spatial fluctuation behind.

"Good! With this Thunder Instant Step, both traveling and fighting are more flexible!"

He nodded with satisfaction, activated Thunder Instant Step again, his figure like flashing thunder, and sped along the desolate road, moving towards Qinggang City at a speed far exceeding before.