Lu Heng glanced at the Director, then turned to the other pets and launched into a long speech: "My name is Lu Heng. For you newcomers, after contracting with me, you should already know that I am your master.
I'm the kind of person who likes obedient children. Of course, after contracting with me, you won't have any rebellious thoughts towards me.
You've all eaten food from me today. The food I provide is something you'll never get outside, so you are all blessed beasts.
However, this delicious food isn't provided every day. Normally, you'll get it once a week. Of course, those who perform exceptionally well in combat can receive an extra reward.
Speaking of combat performance, I think you've all noticed that before you contracted with me, your levels weren't high, with the highest likely being level two abilities.
But after contracting with me, your levels have all increased. Now, you should all be level five ability animals.
Because once you contract with me, your levels will be the same as mine. That means if I level up, you will all level up with me.
This is a thousand times better than surviving in the wild. After all, in the wild, your leveling speed wouldn't be fast. You not only face the risks from various zombie animals and zombie humans but also the danger from ability users like me. Fortunately, by contracting with you, your safety is guaranteed. If you are ever in mortal danger, you can also return to the space to save yourselves."
"What is space?" the new black panther asked.
"The place you are staying in now is the space. The place you lived before is a world in another dimension, a world with all sorts of zombies and ability users, and it's the world you used to live in."
"Then how do we get in?" the black panther continued to ask.
It seems this black panther is an animal that likes to think, and its intelligence is likely higher than the other newcomers.
"I've set up safety permissions for all of you. Once you encounter mortal danger, the space will automatically recall you here. This is a passive skill, so you don't need to worry too much."
"Then how do we know we're in mortal danger?" the black panther pressed.
"Uh. The space will sense it. If I explain the specifics, you won't understand. But before, when the Golden Eagle was at level three, it was ambushed by an ability zombie, and it automatically returned to the space to escape."
Lu Heng looked at his pets, who had all nodded collectively, and silently wiped the sweat from his brow.
In fact, he himself didn't understand why contracted pets were automatically summoned back to the space when they were in mortal danger.
Because, he still hadn't figured out why in this life he had this space, and within this seemingly modern urban space, there was also an ancient well.
However, since this space could be manipulated by his thoughts, allowing him to enter and exit freely, and most of the items inside were inexhaustible, could he also use his thoughts to control and modify the buildings within the space?
For example, by knocking down the walls of the adjacent apartments.
Mobilizing his thoughts, Lu Heng adjusted several walls in the space's apartments.
Indeed, the main walls separating the apartments disappeared, and several apartment rooms were joined into one large space.
Lu Heng raised an eyebrow. Could he really operate it like this?
Then he wanted to expand his own studio apartment, after all, who doesn't like living in a big house?
He decided to renovate the apartments where the pets lived first. The original bathrooms in each apartment were preserved, as with more pets, they would still need to practice how to handle their own waste.
He couldn't possibly be the one to scoop poop for so many pets.
The original kitchens, living rooms, and bedrooms, along with the furniture inside, were cleared out. Then he created twelve identical single rooms, with no furniture in any of them. Each room only had a super large mattress, the largest size available in stores.
Outside the bedrooms, he created a very large common activity hall to facilitate their activities together.
After renovating the pets' rooms, Lu Heng thoughtfully hung their individual photos on their doors.
Lu Heng looked at the doors of the two tigers and two leopards, specifically taking them outside to recognize their rooms. After confirming they could identify their own rooms through the photos, he then instructed all the pets: "You are all now my contracted animals. From now on, do not appear near the rooms. If you are found marking your territory with urine, you will be deprived of special food for three weeks."
The newly arrived black bear silently lowered its hind leg. If the master had spoken a few words later, he estimated he would have marked his territory. It was a habit he had for many years, and it was really not easy to change.
Lu Heng gave a few final instructions to the pets: "From now on, you will all be managed by the Director. Uh, the Director is this orange cat."
After speaking, he picked up the orange cat, which had already become rounder, from the ground and introduced it to the pets: "The Director will be your captain from now on. It will lead you in learning some human social knowledge, as you will be interacting with humans in the future, and it's important to understand them."
Black Panther: "Why is it leading us?"
Lu Heng: "Because it was the first one I contracted with, and its attributes make it more suitable to teach you. It's also the animal that has had the most contact with humans."
"Oh."
"Oh."
"Oh."
"Oh."
"Oh."
"Oh."
"Oh."
"Oh."
Seeing that all the pets understood his rules, Lu Heng left with satisfaction.
However, that black panther asked so many questions. He would have the Director pay close attention to it.
Returning to his own room, Lu Heng also renovated it. He merged all the original rooms, so each room expanded to twice its original size. Except for the bed, which was replaced with the largest one, only one set of other equipment was retained in each room, as he lived alone.
After resting in the space for one night, Lu Heng did not leave the space upon waking up. Instead, he stayed in the space and used the existing crystals to upgrade.
After Lu Heng absorbed all the ordinary crystals, he had already advanced two more levels.
Level seven ability user!
Level seven, nine-attribute ability user!!
It's estimated that the highest level ability users outside probably don't exceed level three.
In less than two months, he had reached level seven. Lu Heng felt he could now venture out. After all, he had been hiding alone for so long, and prolonged isolation from the outside world was quite lonely.
Humans have an ingrained memory of gregariousness deep within their genes. Even ancient emperors could not do without the masses. Even if he had reached the pinnacle, he would still choose to live under the same sky as other humans.
Unless they were immortals, but not all immortals could live in solitude. After all, many of the gods and immortals in myths and legends lived in groups.