"The situation is now critical to say the least. If the Great Republic of Beleriard does not yield, all our efforts will have been in vain! "

It had now been two months since Odaria had refused the deployment of the NMWA's weapons on their territory. By now, the patience of the foreign nations was reaching its limit, and that of the five superpowers of Eden was already over. Clearly, their word carried far more weight than those of other nations; Unfortunately, as was the case in many international associations on Earth, the strongest nations were privileged over the others, despite the fact that the NMWA boasted equity among all its members.

The five superpowers were now tired of waiting, so the heads of state of all five nations had requested an emergency meeting with the president of the NMWA. And so Palma had organized a private meeting in which the President of the Confederate States of Vinland, the Queen of the Prettania Kingdom, the Emperor of the Almagna Empire, the President of the Gardarikian Federation and he himself as the president of the Meilong Republic took part. .

"Gentlemen, please," Palma tried to calm them down. "Even if we want to, we cannot force the Great Republic of Beleriard to surrender. We have already done everything possible. Any other action would go against the principles of the NMWA and ... "

"It does not matter! This situation must change!". The emperor of Almagna was particularly furious. "Dinosaurs must be wiped out NOW!"

"As we speak, half the population of our nations is starving," said the president of the Confederate States of Vinland. "We must at least gain some ground if we want to avoid collapsing!"

Since they lived in a world populated by dinosaurs, humans once created factory farms had focused on the largest source of meat in existence, namely sauropods. Cattle were considered a secondary farm, since they did not provide one-tenth of the meat that a sauropod could provide. But after Sobek forced humans to free the dinosaurs, the economy had collapsed. Governments had tried to replace sauropod meat production with that obtained from sheep and poultry (raised not for meat, but for wool and eggs), but there was not enough to support the entire world population. In addition, large animals such as mastodons and elephants had long since disappeared from the two main continents, so humans could not even replace sauropods with them. In addition, the fishing had also suffered a meltdown, as the marine reptiles had not only begun to avoid whalers and fishing boats, but some of them had also begun to attack farms to steal fresh fish.

This situation had caused food prices to rise across the planet. Obviously the smaller nations had been the hardest hit, but the big ones had also suffered, and the situation did not seem likely to improve. In addition, humans lived with the constant fear that the mutation would also spread to mammals, consequently depriving them completely of any source of protein.

The hope of human beings lay in the invasion of Maakanar: even if they did not manage to defeat the dinosaurs immediately, they expected to be able to buy enough time to capture some mastodons and take them to their continents to breed them intensively, so as to go to replace at least in part the livestock industry. Now, however, the invasion continued to delay.

"If it's against the rules to invade a NMWA country, then let's throw out the Great Republic of Beleriard!" the emperor yelled. "They chose to side with the dinosaurs, so they betrayed all of humanity! Let them die with their new friends!"

"As much as you hate to admit it, this is the only possible solution. Killing indigenous people is never nice, but if there's one thing that shareholders hate more than bad publicity, it's a bad quarterly statement! If the economy continues to collapse at this rate, riots after riots will break out all over the world!" stated the president of the Confederate States of Vinland.

Palma lowered his head, then an idea occurred to him: "Wait! Maybe we can avoid this situation!"

All four pairs of eyes in the room were focused on him. "Speak" they ordered simply.

Palma was in a cold sweat: "The NMWA kept an eye on the elections of the Great Republic of Beleriard. And among the candidates there was a party led by a certain Colonel, a fanatic who, like us, wants the destruction of dinosaurs. We can use this to our advantage! Let's send him enough weapons and men to carry out a coup. At that point, he can authorize us to place our weapons! Even if his rule lasted only three days, that time would be enough to occupy the territory and start the war. We would avoid the scandal resulting from the military occupation and safeguard our interests"

The five leaders of the superpowers thought for a moment, talking among themselves as if the president of the NMWA was not there. Then they made their decision: "Okay, we'll do this. But if that doesn't work either, then we will kick the Great Republic of Beleriard out of the NMWA and invade it. This war must be waged, whether they want it or not"

The sweat on Palma's forehead only increased.

*********

Sobek looked intently at the allosaurus in front of him. Al didn't seem to be able to hold his gaze: he hadn't raised his head since he'd summoned him.

"This is a delicate mission. For it to be successful it is necessary that the ambassador is not the strongest, the most intelligent or the most handsome among us, but the best at speaking and dealing with human beings. You have repeatedly proven that you are the most suitable for that role here" Sobek said. "So I want to give you another chance to redeem your mistake. Don't think you've already received my forgiveness"

"Absolutely, pack leader" Al replied. He was in seventh heaven: he hadn't been expecting anything else for over a year. Finally he had the opportunity to redeem his honor from him. Even though Sobek hadn't forgiven him yet, for the allosaurus the mere fact that he had chosen him for that mission meant that he was finally regaining his trust.

"When you are in human territory you will be able to act as you wish, but you will have to follow these rules. First, don't attack humans. Second, if a human attacks you, do your best to defend yourself without causing casualties. Third, any important moves must be communicated to me before they are implemented. If you ignore these orders, know that nothing will save you from far worse consequences than a simple relegation" Sobek made clear.

"I'm aware of that, pack leader"

"Go then. Remember, the future of our people is in your hands. It all depends on your success"

"Yes, pack leader. I'll keep that in mind"

As Al turned and walked away, Old Li turned to Sobek: "So this is how it begins" he muttered sadly. "Do you think he will succeed?"

"I hope so, my friend. Coexistence with humans is the only acceptable option" Sobek muttered, scratching his muzzle with his claws. "If we were to reach an all-out war, then there will be no world where to live left, regardless of who wins or loses"