What Bad Intentions Could a Little Kitten Have

Since there was such a goofball following, they could only walk back to the shop. Fortunately, it was in the same Brooklyn district, so it wasn't too far.

Oaks invited the cat-lover Zhang Shuren to his place mainly because the wounds from the Flerken were not something that could heal normally.

Director Egghead should know this feeling well.

Although it was caused by the cat-lover's meddling hands, since Goose was now Oaks's cat, he felt he had to take responsibility.

Especially since Oaks was one of the few people who could treat Flerken wounds.

As for whether Goose would be unhappy...

Actually, this little cutie had a pretty good temper, but some people just had to court disaster.

"What should I call you?"

In the dangerous slums, Oaks switched back to English. If two young men who clearly looked Asian were to chat freely in Chinese, the probability of danger would increase.

Don't disbelieve it; many white people discriminate against Black people, but even more Black people discriminate against Asians, and they do so more brazenly.

The people around Little Rainforest were only a small fraction, not even a whole block. The slums took up nearly half of Brooklyn.

"Uh, my name is Zhang Shuren, a graduate student at Columbia University."

The bespectacled youth Zhang Shuren rubbed his still sore nose and burning face, his mouth twitching:

"If you're not used to it or can't pronounce it correctly, you can call me by my English nickname, 'Antonio'."

"...If it's about pronouncing Chinese, I'm still somewhat confident, but outside of written form, you'd better refer to yourself as Antonio Zhang."

Oaks shrugged. He was absolutely, positively sure that if this young man insisted on using his real name in spoken conversation, he would experience awkward situations like professors calling the wrong name, being mistaken for someone else, credit errors, or even not receiving packages.

He had seen too many such things.

"Okay... uh, sir?"

Zhang Shuren, well, Antonio, no, let's just call him Zhang.

Zhang's envious gaze frequently flickered towards Goose, who was quietly perched on Oaks's shoulder, but his feet didn't dare to lag behind. He understood the power of this neighborhood:

"What should I call you, sir? Your Chinese is so good, are you Chinese?"

"Oaks Lin, you can also call me Lin Xingye."

"Oaks? Air conditioning? Ah, sorry..."

"O-a-k-s, it means oak tree."

Oaks glanced at Zhang, whose face had turned a little red, and chuckled with a strange expression:

"I have half Chinese heritage and have studied Chinese quite a bit... so don't think I won't understand that gentleman's characteristic sentence structures and some inside jokes."

Seeing Zhang scratch his head sheepishly, Oaks asked again:

"It looks like you're a new international student here? Why did you come to this area? Even locals rarely come here unless necessary."

Ignoring the fact that he himself, a "local," was here, Oaks glanced at the corner ahead and twitched his mouth:

"So you see, I'm shocked that you could safely venture this far into the slums."

"Ah, I took a taxi. The driver drove like a madman, I almost threw up..."

Zhang looked up blankly:

"I just said I was looking for a place with cheaper rent, and he brought me here...

Huh? Are they here for you, Mr. Oaks?"

Can someone explain what those menacing, fierce smiles from the Black men slowly approaching were all about?

And those folding knives in their hands, aren't they controlled weapons back home?

"How much did you know about the public safety situation in New York before you came abroad?"

"Um... I heard that New York is the place with the highest overall public safety level in the US, but forums say it's best not to go out at night, and it's relatively safe during the day."

"It's one o'clock in the afternoon now, so do you think it's safe now?"

Oaks rubbed his chin. They were already two blocks away from Little Rainforest, seemingly in a small Black gang's territory.

That's why he usually came here secretly in his cat form; otherwise, just cleaning up these scumbags would be too much trouble.

More importantly, it would affect his mood.

And if biological research could complement his abilities and lead to rapid progress in his strength, then fighting crime was just a waste of his time.

He had no interest in being a moral police officer; he would get more value out of planting a couple more trees in that time.

"Mr. Oaks..."

Zhang was about to cry. He tremblingly tugged at Oaks's hoodie:

"Did you bring any money?"

"I brought my credit card."

Zhang shakily took out his Nokia, this throwing weapon that had dealt him a fatal blow not long ago:

"So... is it still too late for us to run?"

"There are people behind us, too."

Zhang turned his head with great difficulty and let out a wail:

"Mr. Oaks, I just wanted to rent a place!"

"Why not stay in the school dorms? You didn't bring any luggage when renting, so it seems you were approved for a dorm, right?"

Zhang trembled even harder, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably—out of sheer rage:

"I wanted to! But my roommate, who is as burly as a bear, he's a damn GAY!"

"..."

Oaks bared his teeth and sighed—ah, the land of the free and the individualistic.

There was no helping it; it looked like this wouldn't end peacefully. But with Zhang here, he couldn't shapeshift, so he would have to use a little bit of magic...

"Meow~"

Goose, who had been bored stiff perched on Oaks's shoulder, suddenly perked up.

A Flerken is very intelligent; she can precisely understand the meaning of human language.

Furthermore, after communicating directly with Oaks, who possessed a Wild Heart, Goose could easily sense his state of mind.

These guys opposite them were here to cause trouble.

Hmm, they were the same color as that bald guy in the trench coat.

Oaks was in a difficult spot because his human servant was right beside him, making it hard to act.

Humans, after all, are much more complicated than cats.

So, with the simple intention of relieving his new owner's worries, Goose opened her mouth.

What kind of bad intentions could a little kitty have?

She just wanted to help.

And so, Zhang felt his entire worldview suffer a devastating blow.

A screen-filling mass of vicious tentacles swept up the thugs before them in one fell swoop.

Their fierce grins froze on their pitch-black, glistening faces.

They didn't even have time to shout a "stick 'em up" slogan before bidding this terrifying world farewell.

Zhang stiffly turned his neck, his face covered in tears and snot—this time out of pure terror.

Well, the friends in front had already moved on, and the friends behind had been mowed down.

Ah, the friends behind were wailing as they scrambled and crawled out of sight—the whole process hadn't even taken five seconds.

So, the hero who had saved him was...

"Meow~"

Goose licked her paw, busy washing her face.

What she meant was, "It was nothing, no need to thank me."

Zhang rolled his eyes and collapsed backward. Oaks faintly heard the sound he made as he fell, a desperate, barely audible whisper:

"After the founding of the nation... it was clearly forbidden to become a spirit..."

"...Oh, shit."

Oaks covered his forehead, his mood complicated.