Zongman, Rebirth of the Heaven-Defying Kirito

The member slowly spoke: "Of the 250 people sent out this morning, less than two-thirds have returned."

Tilberu's disdain instantly froze, his brows furrowing into a knot: "What's going on now? Even if the mission failed, they could have just come back. I wouldn't blame them!"

"It's not that they didn't want to come back, it's just that they didn't log back in after logging off."

The member continued, "We tried to contact them, but the only replies we got were things like 'I want to be alone,' 'I never want to see cockroaches again,' and 'Cockroaches are horrible'..."

Tilberu felt his mind go blank, as if he had been hit hard with a sledgehammer.

He was just sending members to complete a few pest control tasks in an attempt to make up for the guild's financial deficit. How did a third of them end up with their Dao hearts shattered?

Moreover, he only rested for half a day!

How could such a huge mess have happened in just half a day?

After a long while, Tilberu finally regained his composure: "No, I need to know the whole story!"

The member looked troubled: "President, it would be best if you asked them directly about the situation at the time."

Tiberlu thought it made sense, so he got up and walked towards the training ground.

He had already notified everyone to gather there in advance.

The training ground is located on the west side of the city. It is a wide square with a surface paved with silver-white bricks and stones, and many training stakes and targets are erected around it.

At this time, a number of people had already gathered here, standing in five neat rows. They were the members who had been sent to the 25th floor that morning to carry out the pest control mission.

A legion member in charge of liaison saw Tilberu approaching and immediately went to greet him.

The member pointed to the teams in the square and introduced them: "They are the teams that went to Cheese Hill, Biscuit Forest, Pudding Swamp, Chocolate River, and Mille Crepe Plain. Except for the members who didn't log in, everyone who came back is here."

Tilberu nodded, his gaze sweeping over the five teams.

The more he looked, the more his brows furrowed.

These members were all pale-faced, with lingering fear in their eyes;

Moreover, the number of people in each team has been significantly reduced. Originally, each team had fifty people, but now some teams have less than thirty people left.

The saying that one's Dao heart is shattered seems to be true.

Tilberu walked to the front of the line, stopped, and said in a loud voice, "I know you had a bad experience this morning, but I need to know the truth! Can anyone tell me what happened?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the square erupted in chaos.

Those members who were originally dejected seemed to have found an outlet for their emotions, and they all raised their heads and began to confide in each other, their voices filled with grievances, fear, and lingering apprehension.

"President! You must stand up for us!"

One member cried out, "We arrived at the Chocolate River and suddenly heard a 'splashing' sound. At first, we thought it was flooding, but upon closer inspection, we realized it was a huge swarm of cockroaches being swept down the Chocolate River!"

Another member continued, "We encountered them on the Thousand-Layer Plain. We really tried our best, but they were everywhere, densely packed, like a black carpet spread across the ground. We just couldn't cut them all down!"

"Cheese Hill wasn't much better!" one team member said, still shaken. "We barely managed to escape!"

"Our Pudding Swamp squad was completely wiped out..."

The team members recounted their terrifying experiences from the morning, one after another.

The more Tilberu listened, the more shocked he became.

He originally thought there weren't many cockroaches, but he was completely wrong!

But he couldn't help asking, "Why are there so many cockroaches?"

A member stepped out of the group and gestured to the leader, indicating the height of his military boot: "Those cockroaches piled up were about this high! Luckily I ran fast, otherwise..."

Tilberu's gaze fell on his boots.

Those were standard military boots, about thirty centimeters high, and the other person's position was exactly halfway up the boots.

In other words, the cockroach-infested carpet at that time was actually 15 centimeters thick!

A 15-centimeter-thick pile of cockroaches... Just imagining that scene in his mind made Tilberu gasp.

"These cockroaches are terrifying?" Tilberu muttered to himself, his concern about the matter instantly rising to its peak.

This is no longer a simple 'pest control quest,' but a 'regional crisis' that could threaten the safety of players!

Just then, Tilberu's gaze was once again drawn to the member's combat boots.

There was a small brown spot in the corner of the ankle of the combat boot. Because the combat boot was silver-white, the brown spot was particularly noticeable.

If the opponent hadn't raised their boots, probably no one would have noticed.

“There seems to be something under your military boots,” Tilberu pointed to the black dot and reminded him.

The member froze for a moment, looked down at his combat boots, reached out and touched them, then abruptly pulled his hand back, his face turning deathly pale: "Huh? There really is something... Holy crap! A cockroach is still chasing me!"

He frantically lifted his foot and shook it violently.

Then a black creature, slightly larger than a regular cockroach, fell off the boot and landed on the silver-white brick floor.

A notification pops up on the system panel: [Contacted G lv6].

"Croak! It's a cockroach!"

"Everyone, get out of here!"

The members in the square immediately erupted in chaos and retreated in all directions.

In less than a second, a circle with a radius of three meters appeared around the cockroach.

No one dared to approach it, and no one even dared to touch it with a weapon.

Looking at the scene before him, Tilberu felt both angry and helpless.

These are the elite members of the legion, and they are all brave and fearless when slaying elite monsters and challenging bosses.

Now, because of a level 6 cockroach, they're scared and have to give up three meters of space?!

"This is outrageous!" Tilberu shouted, quickly walked to a teammate, and snatched the round shield from the other's hand.

Then, aiming at the cockroaches on the ground, he suddenly threw the round shield.

With a loud crash, the round shield slammed heavily onto the ground.

It hit the bullseye perfectly, emptying the cockroach's health bar and turning its body into fragments that dissipated into the air.

"The president is awesome!"

Cheers erupted in the square, and the members who were initially terrified now looked at Tilberu with eyes full of admiration and gratitude.

Tiberlu was somewhat helpless; he had simply tossed a round shield and killed a level 6 monster.

Even his experience bar didn't show any significant increase, yet it unexpectedly attracted such a huge reaction.

It seems these members are truly traumatized by cockroaches.

As the cheers gradually subsided, Tilberu's expression turned serious again.

He looked at everyone and asked the question that concerned him most: "I want to know why there are cockroaches on the twenty-third floor? Aren't they monsters from the twenty-fifth floor?"

The question immediately fell silent in the square.

Everyone looked at each other, their eyes filled with confusion.

Yes, cockroaches are creatures from the 25th floor, so how could they suddenly appear on the 23rd floor?

After a long while, the member who had previously shown off the combat boots cautiously stepped forward, his voice tinged with uncertainty: "President... perhaps... this cockroach was something I accidentally brought back when I escaped?"

? !