The pterosaurs he had sent to other continents didn't take long to reach other continents. As Sobek already knew, those animals were suitable for flying very long distances and thanks to their beaks they could easily feed while fishing. In addition, some of them had a high resistance to salinity, like some birds, and this allowed them to drink sea water.

In just four days they had crossed the thousands of miles of oceans that separated them from other continents. After that, using the mind-sharing ability of [Contract], Sobek began receiving several images of the places they were visiting.

However, the images he received were not of the quality he expected. The pterosaurs spent almost all of their lives in the sky, so all he received was an overview of the territory. However, this caused him to miss out on many details that would have been crucial to establishing a base there. He needed more details: the conformation of the territory, the steepness of the cliffs, which areas were suitable for a settlement and which were not, which plants and animals were there, what geological risks were there...

That was why he made a decision. If he really wanted to settle in the other continents (and he had to, it was his plans: if the other two continents were left defenseless humans would go there to capture new dinosaurs for their own purposes and colonize the earth for resources, and therefore the peace treaty would have been of little use) needed a complete mapping of the territory. For this he needed explorers. And he already knew who to ask.

"Old Li, go call Monica"

The old ankylosaurus obeyed and ran away. Shortly thereafter he returned carrying the familiar brachiosaurus with him.

And as he had done with Carnopo, Sobek was already found with a bowl full of silver liquid. When he saw it Monica seemed to shiver, but stopped herself. "Did you want me, pack leader?"

"Yes, Monica" Sobek replied. "You have already proven me to be very skilled in exploration. Thanks to you and your intuition, we were able to create a large fortification within the forest protected on many fronts"

"I can't take credit for it. It was Pierce, Eema and Blue the ones who…"

"Wrong. What Pierce, Eema and Blue have done is admirable, there is no doubt about that. However, nothing they did could have been accomplished if you hadn't first chosen the perfect terrain to create our first settlement. In practice, the greatest credit for the safety of our puppies and our elderly goes to you"

Sobek had a simple principle: always recognize someone's work. Even those works that apparently might seem simple and ephemeral, not at all worthy of note, required constant commitment and effort. After all, no bricklayer could ever have built anything as much experience as he had if an engineer hadn't first provided him with a blueprint.

The spinosaurus dipped its claws into the bowl, sprinkling them with silver liquid. "Monica, you have proved me an excellent explorer. I sent you to seek refuge and you found me a fortress. Furthermore, I know that you have helped to explore the desert and to establish all the weak points of our border. Therefore, after careful analysis, I agreed that no one could be more worthy of the role I am about to assign to you"

Sobek raised his paw; Monica lowered her huge neck to allow him to reach his head. "Monica, you have proved your skills. Therefore I, Sobek, bestow upon you the title of explorer. You will be second only to me, and only to me you will have to answer from now on" said the spinosaurus, drawing a moon on her forehead.

Monica raised her head as high as she could, proudly displaying the new design she had on her forehead, which showed that she was now part of the highest hierarchy of the pack. From her face it could be understood that she was exploding with pride.

Sobek called her back very soon: "Monica, I already have the first assignment to entrust to you. Listen to me carefully"

"Tell me, pack leader" the brachiosaurus replied immediately, returning her eyes to him, attentive as ever.

Sobek was a little embarrassed, but he recovered quickly. "As you may know, some of our winged brothers have already set out to explore other continents. However, I'll need the best explorer I have to get a full picture of the situation over there. What you have to do, Monica, is to go to other continents with a team of your choice and explore them inch by inch. You will have to establish safe places to settle, find the most defensible spots, and start relationships with our brothers who live there. When you have all this I will use this information to send Buck and Carnopo to start massive recruiting on the other continents. Our pack will never be complete until it includes all of our brothers!"

Monica seemed flattered by this important task, but also worried. "Forgive me, pack leader, but I can't swim across the entire ocean"

"You don't have to worry about it" Sobek replied. "Very soon I will be providing you with a new skill that will allow you to travel to other continents in moments. All you have to do at the moment is form a team and head for the north coast; when the time comes I'll contact you"

If Sobek wasn't wrong, once he got [Teleportation] he would have to travel for at least a few tens of thousands of kilometers, so it should have been possible to reach other continents if he started from the right place. The north coast of Maakanar was the closest point to the mainland Latissa, located slightly further north, so starting from there gave more possibilities to reach the mainland. The stretch of sea that separated the two continents was just 9,300 kilometers long; considering that the circumference of the planet Eden was over 400,000 kilometers and that at its maximum level [Teleportation] it would have allowed to move from one part of the planet to another (therefore about 200,000 kilometers) it was logical to think that even at level 1/5 it would have allowed to travel that short distance.

Monica realized that her pack leader was not joking. She obviously had no idea how it was possible to cross the ocean in an instant, but Sobek had already proven several times that she could violate the pre-existing logic, so she accepted the simple explanation and immediately went to prepare her team.

Sobek was satisfied. Another piece had gone in his place; now he just had to eat enough and unlock at least one level of [Teleportation].

********

Of course, Sobek's change did not go unnoticed. The fact that he had completely transformed into another creature soon became known thanks to artificial satellites.

This caused quite a stir. The common population didn't care much: after all, too many strange things were happening at the time, so they hardly noticed the news. Rather it was the scientific community that was in turmoil.

Scientists all over the world were delirious. A creature capable of changing its appearance so radically? That wasn't certainly mimicry or any other normal natural processes: this was a real evolution!

It was simply too absurd to think it was true. Which living being could evolve on its own?

Evolution was a process that didn't count single individuals, but the species in general, and took place over millions of years. It started from a single mutation obtained from a single animal due to a transcription error in the DNA, which if it represented an advantage was transmitted to its descendants, who in turn gave birth to new mutations, until the species changed. completely based on the environment in which these animals lived, completely detaching themselves from the main species.

But this was not what had happened! It had been a single dinosaur that, out of the blue, had decided to change its appearance, bone structure, muscles, nerves, perhaps even the brain!

This was out of every known conception. Scientists had already been shocked by the discovery of the existence of intelligent dinosaurs, but how could they explain this? It clashed with any known biological process!

And besides… what did this entail? Did other animals also have similar characteristics, or was it a peculiarity of only one? And even if it were, did he have a limit, or could he modify his body indefinitely? Could it have been made bigger and more powerful? Could it have grown wings, breathed fire, perhaps replicated itself by splitting?

Scientists were literally going crazy. The only thing they were able to do was rename the animal: no longer 'Spinosaurus imperator', but 'Spinosaurus perfectus'; after all, how else could a creature that continually adapts itself be defined if not as perfect?

However, in the midst of all that delirium, some scientists had an intuition. Someone remembered the theories of an old colleague of theirs who had been discredited in his time… Robert Oz.

And so among the scientists of half the world the theories of Dr. Oz began to spread again, even if in any case many remained skeptical about them. The scientific community clamored to find Robert Oz, but he didn't seem to want to show himself in public. And with him the five most important personalities of the scientific world had disappeared: Alan Grant, Ian Malcolm, Ellie Sattler, Jamie Campbell and Mitch Morgan.