"Is this how you treat your guests? What will people from that world think of Earth if word gets out? That we're savages?"
That righteous scolding instantly silenced the entire room.
The trembling Rat's tears stopped at once.
It looked at the tall, imposing man, its heart warm with gratitude.
A good man!
Now that was someone worth following!
Rat clung even tighter to Lei Zhan's thumb with its front paws and rubbed against it, gazing up at him with the adoring look of someone who had decided, I'm sticking with you from now on.
Feeling the warmth against his fingertip, Lei Zhan's expression gradually softened.
He reached out with his other hand, gently stroked Rat's fluffed-up fur, and said in a soothing voice:
"Don't be afraid, little guy. Once you're on Earth, you're home."
"Since we're family, you're one of us."
Rat nodded vigorously.
"Squeak! Squeak! (That's right! We're family!)"
But Lei Zhan's fingers suddenly paused. His tone remained gentle as he changed tack, speaking with the concerned warmth of a parent:
"Since you're family, shouldn't we get you a checkup for your own health?"
Rat froze mid-nod.
Lei Zhan looked up at the old professor, who still held a syringe and remained eager despite having just been scolded. With a helpless, indulgent nod, he said, "All right, Elder Zhang."
"Let's skip the barbaric stuff like cutting him open. We don't want to scare the little guy."
Hearing that, Rat was just about to breathe a sigh of relief.
Then Lei Zhan drove the knife in:
"But we should still give him a basic... full checkup. Take five or six tubes of blood to test his DNA, do a full-body CT scan, and check whether he's carrying any viruses from another world. That's not unreasonable, is it?"
"After all,