The assistant, a seasoned veteran, reacted swiftly, withdrawing his hand as if jolted by electricity, narrowly escaping being bitten. He looked at Lin Yu’an’s eyes, which had instantly turned hostile, with a face full of astonishment.

"Hey, don’t be so rough!"

Lin Yu’an’s voice rang out almost simultaneously with December’s low growl, cold and charged with an indisputable protective instinct.

He immediately held December tighter in his arms, pressing her head against his chest with the crook of his arm, and turned around, using his broad back to completely shield her from the two assistants.

"She’s just a child, not even three months old!" Lin Yu’an looked at the two somewhat bewildered assistants, his tone unquestionable.

"She’s not baggage that can be stuffed into a cage! She will be scared! You can’t take her away in a cage!"

The atmosphere at the scene was briefly awkward and tense.

"Lin, please calm down." Max immediately stepped forward and said in a professional yet soothing voice, "I understand how you feel. But for long-distance flights, using an aircraft crate is the safest and most standard procedure."

Lin Yu’an took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm the surge of emotions caused by heartache. He knew that a pure emotional confrontation was meaningless. He had to communicate in a language that Max could understand, the language of science.

He raised his head, looking straight at Max, his voice no longer excited, but a cold and clear statement:

"Max, I understand standard procedures. But standards apply to standard situations. December’s situation is not standard."

He pointed to the still slightly trembling little creature in his arms and began a logical and clear analysis: "Before I discovered December, she had already experienced severe ’maternal separation trauma’, which was the core of her near-death experience."

"Now, I am the only safety beacon in her world. If, at this newly established trust node, ’forced isolation’ is imposed on her again, it will likely induce and deepen her previous psychological trauma."

"Making her believe that abandonment is the norm in this world, this kind of trauma may accompany her throughout her life, causing immeasurable negative impacts on her future wild training." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"She has now developed a strong ’imprint dependency’ on me, which we all understand. Our goal is to gradually transfer this dependency from me personally to your team and the new environment."

"And the ’cage’, in her cognition, is a small space imbued with confinement and fear. Forcibly putting her into it will only make her equate you with ’cage’ and ’fear’, these negative concepts. This will greatly increase the difficulty of subsequent trust rebuilding."

"Therefore, Max, I request that you initiate a more humane and less risky ’soft landing’ plan."

"By having you, who is about to become her next important figure, also exuding goodwill, personally hold her. Serving as a transition bridge between me, this ’old beacon’, and her new home in Alaska."

"I believe this is the least harmful, most scientific way to hand her over psychologically."

Max was silent. She had thought she was facing an ordinary rescuer who had lost rationality due to emotions.

But she hadn’t anticipated Lin Yu’an, despite such agitating emotions, remaining clear and methodical, analyzing the issue from highly professional animal behavior perspectives like ’psychological trauma stacking’ and ’imprint dependency transfer’.

He wasn’t just requesting; he was conducting an irrefutable academic argument in her professional language.

She looked at this man in front of her, his eyes, reddened with exhaustion, gleaming with rationality and unshakable determination.

Max sighed deeply, revealing a genuine smile.

"Alright, Lin."

She instructed the two assistants, who were equally dumbfounded, with an indisputable gesture: "Put the aircraft crate away. We will execute Lin’s suggested ’soft landing’ plan."

Then, she turned to Lin Yu’an, her eyes incredibly sincere: "Sorry, Lin. It’s our inertia of thinking. Past rescues were always like this, but we overlooked how special December’s situation is."

"I assure you, Lin, starting now until we reach the research center in Alaska, December will always be in my arms, and I will not let her out of my sight. I will become that transition bridge you mentioned."

She intensified her tone, offering a promise beyond Lin Yu’an’s expectation, "After arriving at the base, during the initial isolation adaptation period, I will personally serve as her sole designated caretaker."

"I will handle all her feeding, care, and behavior observation until she fully adapts to the new environment and successfully transfers her imprint dependency from you to me and a familiarity with this new ’nest’."

"I will not let her face a completely unfamiliar new face during her most vulnerable transition period. Only when her emotional and physiological indicators are entirely stable will I gradually let her adapt to more people. I will personally supervise, ensuring nothing goes wrong."

"As for wild training, that will be a long and complex process. But before then, trust me, I will use all my expertise to continue the precious guardianship you’ve provided."

Upon hearing this flawless ’I’ll handle it from start to finish’ promise, Lin Yu’an’s tense nerves finally entirely relaxed.