"Pack leader!" Buck exclaimed as soon as he saw him. "I have completed the task entrusted to me"

"Well done, my friend. I am pleased" Sobek answered observing the tyrannosaurs. He was satisfied: of all dinosaurs, tyrannosaurs were some of the most dangerous ones, so having a group on his side was important.

The newcomers looked intimidated. How to blame them: Sobek was almost three times their length and almost twice their height. A single paw from him would have been enough to kill one of them. Before their arrival mny of them had doubts about Sobek's legitimacy as pack leader, even if Buck say so. After all, it was hard for them to believe that there could be an animal stronger than a T-Rex. In their view, Sobek must have been a dinosaur only slightly more powerful than Buck: strong, but not so strong as to be considered invincible. But now they realized how wrong their thinking was. Sobek towered over them like a house, and every single inch of his body, from his razor sharp teeth to his massive claws, implied that his power level was far beyond the strength of a t-rex. Now that they had seen him all their doubts had surely dissipated: Sobek deserved to be called invincible and so he deserved to be the pack leader.

When the spinosaurus moved towards them, many of the younger ones backed off a few feet; only the older tyrannosaurs were able to stand still, maintaining a sort of pride, despite sweating in fear. "There is no reason to be afraid, my friends" Sobek said. "I am Sobek, Buck's pack leader. Since you have come here with him, I know that you have no warlike intentions towards me or those of my subordinates, so I also have no reason to fight. Now, I assume that you are here because you want to join the pack, just like Buck did long ago; am I right?"

The tyrannosaurs were confused; though they'd followed Buck, they hadn't expected his pack leader to be a creature of another species. That was an unfamiliar situation for them. Not knowing what to do they looked at Buck, who nodded his head encouragingly. Seeing this, the tyrannosaurs felt more confident and lowered their heads in submission: "We will all obey you faithfully!" they said all together.

If he still had human facial muscles and features, Sobek probably would have grinned so wide now that it touched the tips of his ears. While he would surely have many large predators under his command in the future, getting a whole legion of tyrannosaurs was like winning a legendary level item during a lottery in any online game. He wouldn't be surprised if the System kicked in and said: 'Ding! You have achieved the title: Tamer of Tyrannosaurs!'

A long series of [Contracts] appeared before his eyes. "Good. Welcome to my pack then! Let me give you some welcome gifts!" he exclaimed, and having said that he immediately passed [Linguistics], [Linguistics (2)] and [Reinforced skin] to them. As for the fourth skill, he had no doubts: [Powerful bite]!

The tyrannosaurs winced and looked at each other in confusion. Many of them, just as Buck had done the first time, continually opened and closed their jaws, feeling that they had suddenly become stronger.

"As Buck has surely already told you, I have special powers" Sobek explained. "I have given you some of them so that you can use them as you wish. From now on you will be able to understand what any flying dinosaur or reptile will say, nothing will scratch your skin and your bite will have more than three times the power of a you were used to. Nothing can stand against you now!"

The tyrannosaurs roared in delight. Although they had the mind of an animal, they were still able to understand how valuable those gifts were. A skin that couldn't be penetrated by anything and a bite that could tear everything apart? To an animal they were the equivalent of treasure! It meant one's survival was assured!

"As long as you are part of my pack, these gifts will be yours. You will also always have plenty of food and a place to shelter. But you will have to respect my rules," Sobek said sternly. "As long as you are part of the pack, you will not have to attack any other member of the pack and you will have to obey my orders or those of the one to whom I will entrust the command. I do not accept exceptions on this: anyone who violates these rules, I will know about it and I will expel him from the herd, and then I'll tear it up and eat it myself. Am I clear?"

Although Sobek preferred to play the part of the good and valiant leader, he knew that with animals at least during the first approach it was better to immediately clarify how the hierarchy worked. Since he was dealing with creatures who believed only in strength, this was the only way to be respected. Therefore he had no qualms about using threats and intimidation as a way of control.

If his interlocutors had been humans, then those words would surely have generated dissent and discontent. But among animals they were normal. It was normal for a pack leader to make its role clear: in many animal species the pack leader even killed the offspring of the previous pack leader to establish its dominance.

Indeed, the tyrannosaurs had no complaints; on the contrary, they lowered their heads again and answered in chorus: "Yes, pack leader!"

Sobek was satisfied with the answer. "Buck, Carnopo, bring them to the pack and make sure that they receive a warm welcome. Let them eat their fill and rest, they deserved them after the travel. Then come and find me; I have a task to entrust to you" he said, and then go away on his own business. He didn't even give them time to ask for anything before disappearing into the forest.

Without [Ambush] activated Buck could have tracked him down by nose; he didn't have to worry about making himself traceable. So he found the first rock he came within range and lay down on it, reflecting on what to do.

A question haunted him: why had Buck not unlocked any titles, despite having been under the influence of the [Contract] for much longer?

Now that Sobek knew he could assign a task to those who manifested a title, he wanted at all costs for Buck to unlock it. He had already decided that he was going to make him an assault commander. After all, what better dinosaur for that role than a tyrannosaurus rex? The problem was how to get him to unlock it.

Sobek had worked to gain his loyalty since they met, but he knew their relationship was not far from a normal situation between leader and any member of the pack. Even though Buck admired and trusted him more than he ever did with his former pack leader, it wasn't enough.

From what he understood, to unlock the titles it was necessary to create a bond of absolute loyalty towards him. It wasn't easy to get from humans, let alone dinosaurs. Sobek would then have to dig deeper to get Buck to get a title.

There were several ways to inspire loyalty, but they were hardly applicable to non-human subjects. Humans, despite their intelligence, were easily manipulated: it didn't take much for them to even sell themselves to the devil. But the dinosaurs were different. Religion, money, prizes and friendship mattered little to them: their only law was the survival. This was inevitably a problem because if a dinosaur had to abandon its pack leader to survive it would have done so without thinking twice. This behavior clearly didn't allow the evolution of the concept of loyalty in the dinosaurs. "With Carnopo I succeeded thanks to some good speeches. Maybe it will work with Buck too... mmm... but it's not that simple. I have to think the right words..."

He was still mulling it over when he heard the trees behind him rustle around. Buck and Carnopo had arrived.

Silence reigned for a few minutes, then Sobek decided to break the ice: "Did the tyrannosaurs settle well?"

"Yes. They were very happy" Buck confirmed. "They were initially confused, but then when they saw all our food they quickly adapted. I think they will not create problems"

"Good" Sobek grunted. "I have summoned you here for a very important matter. You must know that if you accept the task that I am about to trust you, from tomorrow your rank will be higher than the one of all the other dinosaurs except myself"

Both Buck and Carnopo became visibly nervous. In the herds of all animals only one commanded, while all the others performed. However, this technique was impossible to maintain in an army: it was necessary that each department had a commander who could decide on the field.

Sobek looked at the tyrannosaurus. "Buck, tomorrow you will choose at least two hundred dinosaurs, the most performing, the strongest and the bravest you can find"

"Of course. What are their names?" Buck asked.

"Oh, I have no idea. You will have to choose"

"I'll have?"

"Yes. I trust your judgment. You are a great warrior and you know the strengths and the weaknesses of each species. I don't know anyone who can do this job better than you"

Buck was both confused and flattered. In his perspective it was impossible to decide on his own, because it was the pack leader who made all the decisions. However, he was also pleased to have been praised so highly, so he chose to shut up.

Sobek took this as a sign that he could continue. "When you have chosen them, you will have to teach them to fight. Not in the single way that all of them have learned, no; they will have to fight together. Listen carefully..."

Sobek continued talking for an hour and a half. Thanks to that wonderful thing called the Internet, Sobek had been able to learn all the military training techniques of modern armies. They were designed to make soldiers become efficient and coordinate each other. "In conclusion, your task will be to make the dinosaurs abandon their individuality. They will have to fight as one body and one mind"

When a herd hunted or defended itself, each animal thought for itself; they could coordinate, sure, but not even near as well as modern human armies did. But if the dinosaurs had learned those techniques then they would have increased their offensive potential by at least a hundredfold. Sobek had decided to try: he would try to train a handful of dinosaurs to see if they could become as efficient as human soldiers.

Buck had listened carefully and even though he didn't understand its use, he understood its potential. "It will be done. I will work to ensure that they learn best"

"Very well" Sobek said, then turned to the carnotaur. "Now let's talk about you. Carnopo, from tomorrow you will take control of the recruiting dinosaurs. It will be your job to coordinate them in their search for new pack members. You will have to choose which dinosaurs to recruit first, how to approach them, how to manage them, etc. It will all be under your jurisdiction"

Since Sobek still didn't know Carnopo's talents, he had decided that he would put him to the test in more fields. He would have started as the 'head of exploration' because it was the most viable at the time.

Even the carnotaur did not refuse that task. "I will do it. I will strive to make recruiting as efficiently as possible"

"Good. Now, I guess you are wondering why I want to entrust you with these tasks" Sobek said. "The reason is simple: we need as many dinosaurs as possible and they must learn to fight together. Carnopo already knows why"

Buck looked at the carnotaur, who gave a flattered smile. The tyrannosaurus seemed a little hurt that Carnopo had known his master's plan first even though he had arrived in the pack after him. "Don't get me wrong, Buck: I didn't tell him nothing. He figured it out for himself" Sobek hastened to explain, and the t-rex looked a little relieved. "In short terms, we're going to war soon"

This time Buck's eyes widened in surprise. "War?"

"Yes, Buck, war. War against humans. Because our very survival is at risk"

Over the next ten minutes Sobek explained to Buck the situation he had already shared with Carnopo, and also used the power of [Contract] with him to share images. This time there was no need for proof: Buck did not doubt for a moment that what Sobek was saying was true. However, this did not stop him from feeling bad when he learned of the truth and saw with his own eyes the horrors perpetuated by the human species.

Buck had never seen humans, except on Alan Grant's expedition. He didn't know anything about them. And now that Sobek had shown him what lay beyond the forest, Buck felt as if he had always lived under a glass dome. Imagining that beyond the forest there were such dangerous and terrifying creatures was enough to make even an eight-ton tyrannosaurus tremble.

"Now you know everything too" Sobek said. "And you know why we have to fight"