While an epochal storm was brewing around the world, both on the human side and on the dinosaur side, some were benefiting from the situation. The Odaria nation, for example, was in full economic growth.

Jocelyne's plan had worked brilliantly. The mega clean energy implant was now half completed and would be finished within a year or two. The solar panels and wind turbines were already in operation and produced huge amounts of energy, but when the plant was finished it would also produce geothermal, water and tidal energy.

Although it was only half completed, the mega-implant was already able to meet the energy needs of the entire nation. The national electricity grid had been completely converted to depend on the mega-plant. Once it was completed, the amount of energy produced would have been so great that it could have met the energy needs of even neighboring nations, which would have paid out a lot to have that energy, and there would have still been a lot to resell to. rest of the world. Although Odaria still mainly imported oil, coal and natural gas, its supplies were limited, so politicians and industrialists were already making arrangements to convert these raw materials to clean energy.

The mega-plant was not the only structure that had been erected in Odaria: the recycling implant envisaged by Jocelyne's plan had also been completed. Since it was no longer possible to exploit oil to create plastic or trees to create paper, all the factories in the nation had been closed and workers had been moved to the recycling plant. Thanks to some agreements made with other nations, Odaria periodically received a huge amount of waste that was promptly transformed into tools thanks to the power of recycling.

Obviously, thanks to these two projects, the country's economy was experiencing a real surge. The construction of the mega-implant was a titanic project and thousands of workers were needed to build it; normally no one would have been willing to shell out the huge amount needed to pay them, but since their finances were in danger, the heads of households across the nation had spared no expense. Thanks to those funds, it was now possible to pay the workers, and consequently the construction of the mega-implant gave jobs to many citizens. And even after many of its parts were completed, several workers kept their jobs, since the plant still needed continuous maintenance. In addition, the new recycling plant was able to produce far more plastics, paper and other materials than normal factories, which meant that there were many more tools that could be made, but more staff were needed to do so. In short, the citizens of Odaria were receiving very attractive job offers. Moreover, as Jocelyne had foreseen, the use of recycling and alternative forms of energy had not only reduced production costs, but thanks to the good faith demonstrated, the NMWA had lowered the sanctions that up to a year earlier threatened. to destroy the country. Within a decade they would probably have been completely undone.

In short, Odaria's economy had improved by 20% in just one year. Such figure had never been reached before. The nation had found itself in a period of crisis and had come out stronger than ever, and only thanks to Jocelyne's plan.

"That girl is a real marvel" Billy Kimber murmured as he read the newspaper, which reported the latest financial updates. "I understand why Markus has decided to make her the future head of the Jersey family, even though she is only a woman"

Although he certainly wouldn't admit it in public, Kimber admired Jocelyne. As a business man he was, for him a person was valuable based on how much profit she was able to procure. As a result, Jocelyne, who had revolutionized the country's economy in record time, could be called a prodigy in his eyes. "If I'm not mistaken, she is now fifteen. I would very much like Markus to be convinced to look for a husband for her... most of the girls in the nation get married much earlier, but that stubborn one refuses to find her at least one boyfriend". Of course, the fact that girls married young was unstable because they were kidnapped and forced to do so was ignored.

"Would you like to marry her to my younger brother, her father?" asked the man in front of him. Kimber raised his eyes to meet the face of a handsome young man, with short brown hair and beige eyes, just like his. The face of his eldest son, Philip Kimber.

"If it weren't for the fact that you're already engaged, I would have proposed you for that girl" he said sincerely. "But your younger brother Tyler is fine too. He is only a year older than her, so the two would bond easily. I have already made the proposal to Markus, but he refuses to cooperate"

"Why on earth would he refuse? We are the richest family in the nation!" Philip grumbled with a frown. Householders usually knelt down and kissed the floor if they could make up for a marriage to one of the sons of Odaria's wealthiest houses, so he couldn't understand how Jersey could possibly refuse.

"Markus wants her to become the head of the family, so he's not willing to relegate her to what, by law, would be a secondary role" Kimber explained. "Once she is married, a woman must always keep up with her man, no matter how smart she is. If Markus arranged a marriage for Jocelyne, it would be only her eventual husband who would reap the benefits of her wits, while she would be forever overshadowed"

"What nonsense" Philip said. "A woman cannot be the head of the family. She doesn't have the abilities. Just because that girl had a good idea for one time doesn't mean..."

His father stopped him immediately: "Now it is you who are talking nonsense, my boy. Jocelyne Jersey HAS all the abilities needed to be the head of the family. Her was not a stroke of genius, but a thoughtful decision by fielding all the existing data and reshuffling it in order to obtain an immense profit from them. You have shown that you have a business mindset, and not just with that proposal from a year ago. My spies have been keeping an eye on the Jersey family accounts recently; even if in the last year we are all getting rich, they are the ones who have enriched the most, and this is because they have been able to grab the best contracts for the construction and exploitation of the new plants, as well as having obtained excellent customers abroad. I have no doubt that the cause of all this is Jocelyne: Markus Jersey is an intelligent man, but not that intelligent". Augustus scratched his beard thoughtfully. "That girl had premeditated her idea of her very well before exposing it to all of us, and she already knew which contracts would provide the most profitable trade. In addition, she has exploited her identity as a brave ambassador to the dinosaurs to gain fame abroad and gain far more affluent clients than ours. According to my spies, it was she who advised John Hammond on how to move in order to be able to buy almost all the properties of the now disappeared Reiden Global"

Philip was surprised: "Did you advise Hammond...?"

"Yes. And as it happens, now John Hammond is her godfather, he is one of her best clients, and he's her propagandist too, as she uses his influence to get more shareholders to deal with the Jersey family. In this period of energy crisis, having the support of a famous figure in the field of clean energy like John Hammond means having immense earnings ready in the bag, just waiting to be caught" Kimber explained. "Not only that: my spies also told me that he has opened at least three other bank accounts around the world, consequently the finances declared by the Jersey family do not correspond to his actual assets. This is a very clever move, because it not only confuses us his opponents, but it doesn't give us a chance to find out what he uses that money for. In my estimation, if not stopped, the Jersey family will supplant ours as the richest family in the nation in two or three years at the most, and in a decade it could achieve political and financial clout that could control the whole of Odaria. It could even completely change the country's constitution. In fact, this nation will belong to her"

Philip couldn't understand it. In his eyes, it was impossible that anyone could achieve such power. In the business world, even if you were at the top, there were still competitors who could prevent you from becoming too strong. But if what his father said was true, then Jocelyne Jersey had exceeded that expectation. Whoever controls money controls the world: it was the law of every political-economic system. If Jocelyne had achieved such power, she could have altered the whole nation as she wanted, and no one could have stopped her.

"That's why it's absolutely imperative that that girl marry Tyler before it's too late" Kimber explained. "Once she will be his wife, her mind will become the property of our family, and we will thrive together. But if Markus continues to refuse to accept the marriage, then that mind will destroy us. That girl must be tamed before she becomes the head of the family"

Philip gritted his teeth. "If the problem is simply her father's approval of her, then we can kidnap her" he proposed. "Markus Jersey will not be able to oppose after the marriage has been consummated"

"If it were that easy I would have done it already" Kimber replied. "But after the incident three years ago, Markus Jersey fortified his home and increased his private militia. In addition, in the last year he has recruited hundreds of soldiers, at the request of his daughter, I bet. Jocelyne never moves without an escort of at least twenty men and I am pretty sure that many others are stealthily following her with ready-made rifles. Being able to capture her is an almost impossible undertaking, unless you start a real war between families that would be impossible to hide. Right now, as we're bouncing back in the eyes of the rest of the world, a downtown shooting is bad publicity. Not to mention the way John Hammond would react; anyone crazy enough to do such a thing would surely be destroyed"

"So what do you do?"

"I don't know yet. But I have one certainty: that girl must not become the head of the Jersey family. We'll do our best to bring her into our family, but if we can't…" Kimber wrinkled his nose. "... then we will have to resort to drastic measures"

"But father... you just said it would be bad publicity..."

"A shooting or a car bomb is bad publicity. A sniper who shoots that girl through a window, out of sight, is not. As long as the killer cannot be traced, neither his father nor Hammond will be able to accuse us of anything"

Kimber didn't want to come up with such countermeasures: Jocelyne's talent and ingenuity were something truly rare. But if he couldn't have them, no one else would.

Suddenly her phone rang, and so did her son's. "What is that?" Kimber murmured turning on the device, but his blood froze when he discovered that it was an anonymous video. As soon as he turned it on, an image of a giant spinosaurus appeared on the screen.

"Humans! I am sending this message to all computer lines of my knowledge, in the hope that as many people as possible can see it. A few hours ago I learned that not only have your governments produced even more terrible weapons than those already in your possession, but that they plan to move those weapons to Maakanar and place them right on our borders within the next month. I'll put all the evidence on the Internet shortly. Such an act of provocation is clearly a threat to my people, and I am not going to stand by. My intention is still to live together in peace, so I will not respond to this nefarious act with a preemptive strike, even if my pride would require me to teach you to respect the pacts. However, if only one of these weapons lands on Maakanar, then that act will be considered a declaration of war. I therefore ask you to remember that we have made a peace agreement and that up to now my people have always worked hard not to break it; please do the same, to avoid a conflict that will not benefit anyone. I ask governments, but especially the people, to renounce war and strive to maintain harmony among our peoples"

"Furthermore, I have an announcement for the nations that are already on the Maakanar continent: in the unfortunate and nefarious event that other governments choose to continue the conflict, your countries would be the first to be involved. In all likelihood, your streets will be stained with the blood of your citizens. But I don't want a massacre, I've never wanted it. So I tell you this: forbid other nations to carry those terrible weapons on your territory, and I will not twist a hair on your people. I'm not a bloodthirsty and I keep my word. Even if there is a conflict, you will have the option to avoid it. I hope you catch it. The fewer deaths there will be, the better it will be for everyone"

"This is the only advice I can give you, humans. Stop this madness before it's too late and leave room for diplomacy and dialogue. If you want to avoid crying over the graves of your family, leave this path. It is not too late"

Thus ended the video. As soon as he finished, his cell phone rang again and a new anonymous message arrived: it was a folder containing an accurate description of the NMWA's plans for the deployment of the armed forces on Maakanar. The proof that Sobek's ultimatum was based on a more than justified risk.

And Kimber knew this was true, because the Odaria government had been personally involved with such plans. Given the enormous distances between Laurentia and Saramir and Maakanar, the NMWA had decided to create a headquarters in Odaria from which they could launch all the missiles at their disposal. And obviously these maneuvers had been decided in agreement with the local government, since the heads of the families did not mind at all being able to get rid of the dinosaurs, and indeed they had used the opportunity to regain part of the prestige they had lost in front of the international community.

"How did they know about our plans?" Kimber wondered. They were secret plans hidden even from the population! How could the dinosaurs have discovered their intentions?

Meanwhile, at the Jersey family residence, Jocelyne was watching the video like everyone else in the world. But unlike them, she smiled.

"It's finally time" she said looking at a spot near her feet where a large duffel bag lay. Inside, something slimy and scaly was moving.