After completing his inspection of the other continents, Sobek returned to Maakanar. He didn't like what he saw very much, but on the other hand he already knew it would be like this: he remembered the effects that climate change had had on Earth, so it was not surprising that the same would happen. on Eden.

With his actions, Sobek had helped slow the catastrophe. He was pretty sure he had gained a few years, maybe even a decade or more. That time was more than enough to 'fix the world'. Very soon, in fact, the second phase of his plan would begin.

He knew that it was now only a matter of time before humanity attacked... exactly as he hoped.

He had been certain that humanity would not keep the peace when Rambo confirmed to him that humans were starting to build armaments again. His intelligence network had infiltrated all overseas nations, and thanks to it Sobek had constantly under control all movements of humanity.

As he had feared, the humans had resumed creating new weapons. With their current technology, it was impossible for them not to rapidly improve their army. After all, things like drones and targeting systems already existed, even if they were used for other purposes: it didn't take long before they converted them into killing machines.

However, this wasn't totally bad. Thanks to his intelligence network and the mind-sharing ability of the [Contract], Sobek had been able to observe the new missiles built by humans. And thanks to them, he had unlocked every box in the [Anti-aircraft system]. Not only did he now have access to a paraphernalia no less than that of his opponents, but he also possessed his Personal Anti-aircraft.

Each item in the [Anti-aircraft system] cost over 50,000 bonus money, but luckily Sobek wasn't short of it at all. Thanks to his actions over the last year, he had earned enough to create a good defense.

Probably the only reason the nations still hadn't moved was because they were waiting for the dinosaurs to release the last hostages so they couldn't use them against them. After all, Sobek had done the same: by now, virtually all dinosaurs held by humans were free. Thanks to thousands and thousands of exchanges, everyone who was locked up in zoos, on farms or in any other context had been released; many of them had by now completely adapted to the pack and the few who had not were entrusted to the support group created by Al.

This success was also achieved thanks to Snock's actions. The continuous rebellions instigated by the giganotosaurus had not only saved thousands of dinosaurs, but had also pushed the police of many countries to take action against illegal markets, even going against some powerful mafia leaders, to avert the risk of a future revolt.

For a whole year Sobek had been preparing for the war to come. Rambo had kept his enemies in check, Snock had taken care to make sure the humans had no more hostages to use, Buck and Carnopo had enormously expanded the size of the army, Mazu had built a powerful navy and Apache a strong air force. And besides, he had also worried about a possible, if very unlikely, defeat.

When he used [Teleportation] one last time, he appeared in the middle of the Maakanar forest in front of Monica. His arrival was so sudden that the brachiosaurus almost got scared: "Pack leader!"

"Hi, Monica" Sobek greeted her. "How are you?"

"Good like always. What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to check the status of the works"

Monica knew what Sobek was referring to. Although far behind her, some dinosaurs could be seen moving the fallen stones and logs.

Throughout the previous year, Monica and her followers had done nothing but explore. Initially, Sobek had asked them to map the entire surface of Latissa and Tegrom; however, when he had gotten enough information about the territory, he had changed his focus and instead asked them to return to Maakanar to look for new places to establish outposts.

Only a fool did not expect possible defeat, and Sobek was no fool. Even though he was 99.9% sure he would win, he couldn't take the future for granted. As pack leader, he had to consider every option. So he had decided to act as if defeat were certain and he was therefore concerned with turning the entire forest of Maakanar into a fortress.

Therefore, Monica and her followers had carefully explored the whole territory, looking for both weak points and places difficult to conquer. After that, they communicated their findings to Pierce, who with the help of Blue's intelligence and Eema's building skills had begun to prepare outposts, defenses and observation points.

The cliffs had been improved to become rugged and impossible to climb, and the beaches and shores had been littered with obstacles to prevent ships from docking. Observation points had been established on many mountains where some dinosaurs surveyed entire areas, and if they noticed anything strange they informed their companions with rudimentary horns designed by Blue. Many caverns and caves had been transformed into outposts where dinosaur teams gathered after patrolling the area and near lakes, plains and mountains, shelters no different from the one created a year earlier had sprung up.

Pierce had been very careful in his work, not leaving out a single detail, and Monica had done the same by mapping the Maakanar territory with impeccable precision. By now the exploration was over long ago, so the sauropod and his followers now helped to build by cutting down trees or moving rocks.

"I have to say you did a good job" Sobek said, looking at the whole thing.

"Thanks to Blue's inventions and Eema's construction skill. Pierce was particularly paranoid while he worked" Monica joked.

"Typical of him. Can you take me to them?"

"Of course"

The two set off. Looking at Monica, Sobek realized how big he really had become: a brachiosaurus, an animal 26 meters long and almost 10 meters high, now seemed small compared to him. Sobek could have simply opened and closed his jaws to devour Monica's head and a third of Monica's neck in full.

"I was thinking it might be worth trying to replicate all this on other continents, pack leader" Monica said suddenly. "Personally, I think it would be safer to have a chance to escape"

Sobek nodded. He had thought of it too. Pierce could be called paranoid, but Sobek was not joking either, so he had also taken into account the possibility that the entire Maakanar would not have stood up against human invasion (which is practically impossible!). However, he had ruled out the hypothesis of turning all three continents into an outpost for a simple matter of time: given the pace at which the clash was approaching, it was safer to concentrate on fortifying one continent well than three. In addition, the other continents had a completely different environment, so Pierce, Eema, Blue and Monica would have to study new designs for their defenses.

"For the moment, it's not a good idea. However, in the future it wouldn't hurt to do that" he replied. "When the first real confrontation with humanity is over, we will have time on our side again. At that point, we can afford to focus on improving Latissa and Tegrom"

"I understand. Excuse my impudence, but I really want to go back to my old job. I miss exploring" the brachiosaurus said. "Is war really that close? I heard something from Apache and the other pterosaurs, but I would like your opinion"

"It is likely that it will start within a few months. I'm pretty sure we can get a landslide victory, but nothing is certain in this world, so I asked Old Li to design an evacuation plan for a possible total defeat"

"I understand. Your wisdom is commendable"

"It is not wisdom, it is simple prudence. It's my role as pack leader to be cautious" Sobek replied. "Oh, here you are"

Pierce, Eema and Blue were running towards him. Evidently, some dinosaur must have informed them of his arrival. "Pack leader, sorry! We didn't know you would come"

"It was a last minute decision. Given how our relationships with humans are progressing, I wanted to make sure we were ready here. Pierce?"

"Yes, pack leader!" the stegosaurus almost shouted, coming to attention. "We're almost done. The works are almost finished. The organization of patrols and reconnaissance has also been completed. Even with the superb arsenal of humans, it will be almost impossible for them to be able to land on our shores, not to mention venturing into our territory"

"Good. How long will it take you to finish the constructions?" Sobek asked.

"A couple of weeks... at most" Eema replied, taking the floor. "After that it will take another week for the various blends of Blue to solidify and make our fortifications impregnable"

After gaining access to the Internet and the title of scientist, Blue had begun to extract all the knowledge that humans had discovered over the thousands of years of their history. Thanks to this she now knew how to create special mixtures to make the fortifications extremely resistant, fireproof, waterproof and, in general, difficult to destroy.

Sobek was pleased. "Well, it looks like all the pieces have fallen into place. We are now ready"

"Do you intend to start the war, pack leader?" Eema asked.

"I won't start any war. Humans will do it" Sobek replied. "Whether it is now or in another year, confrontation is inevitable. At the moment, however, we are still the ones in the position of strength... even if humans still don't know it"

Everyone nodded. "What are you waiting for, then?" Pierce asked.

"The green light from our ally" Sobek answered with a serious voice. "We aren't the only ones who have been preparing for a whole year, after all..."