First, Sobek wanted to make sure that Monica's escape routes were known to everyone, so he asked Blue to draw an impressive map of the place on a rock. The velociraptor used a mixture of dried fruit and congealed mud to create the dye and had Monica personally accompany him on a tour of the entire valley to memorize every detail.

Sobek couldn't help but admit he was surprised. The map drawn by Blue was quite detailed and with primitive symbols to indicate certain things. But the really strange thing was that the other dinosaurs, after a brief explanation, seemed to remember those symbols and understand them. This, at least for normal knowledge of biology, should have been impossible.

Only a few animals, the smartest after humans, were able to associate pictures with words. Among the 'dinosaurs', the only ones known capable of doing so were crows, magpies and partly parrots. Still, all the dinosaurs in Sobek's herd appeared to have become capable of recognizing symbols.

Sobek was starting to wonder if the [Contract] was also affecting the dinosaurs' mental abilities. Since it had some sort of mind-sharing ability, albeit partial, perhaps some of Sobek's human intelligence was flowing into the minds of the other dinosaurs, augmenting their intellect. Or perhaps it was a consequence of the language; Sobek recalled that there was a hypothesis in linguistics, called the hypothesis of linguistic relativity, which stated that the cognitive development of a living being was influenced by the language he spoke. Perhaps the introduction of a universal language among all dinosaurs and therefore also among complex 'dinosaurs' such as crows was slowly increasing the intelligence quotient of all dinosaurs.

Sadly, Sobek was neither a linguist nor a scientist. His knowledge of his previous life included only an infinitesimal part of the enormous human knowledge. Therefore, even if there had been a rational explanation for that phenomenon, he would hardly have been able to identify it. So, as he often did, he simply forgot about it and he refocused on just developing his herd.

When Blue finished the map, Sobek ordered everyone to memorize it, including the puppies. Once all the dinosaurs had more or less memorized the drawing, Sobek with the help of Old Li established some emergency protocols, that is, he instructed the dinosaurs on the behavior and the path they should take in case there was a danger that it would have broken through all defenses.

Learning how to escape from a place was the first rule of ensuring its safety, or in case of danger someone would be trapped inside. There was a reason why humans often did fire drills. Since dinosaurs could have been subjected to far greater dangers once humans learned about them, it was essential that they knew how to escape fast if it was need.

Secondly, Sobek ordered Monica and the other sauropods to cut down some trees from the surrounding forest and transfer them to the valley, and then replant them where the existing trees were not too dense, so as to plug the holes in the overhead cover. Sobek knew that humans had orbital satellites, so he couldn't afford to be spied from above. Where to put a tree would have been too unnatural, dinosaurs folded over rocks, mud, broken logs and so on.

Then the cleaning began. Several herbivores entered the valley and devoured all the dangerous plants, such as brambles and sharp ferns, leaving only a blanket of grass suitable for sleeping and resting. The poisonous plants were then uprooted and thrown into the river, so that no one fed on them by mistake.

At that point Sobek arranged the mangers. The valley was very large, so he put a lot of them; he had to spend some bonus money, but it would be worth it. So at least everyone would have their share without having to wait for hours. After all, in the future the number of guests in the valley would have been much higher with the arrival of new dinosaurs.

Finally, to make everything more welcoming, Monica and other sauropods dragged some boulders into the area and the ceratopsids, using their horns, piled them to form buildings similar to the Stonehenge megaliths, where the cubs could take shelter in case of a strong storm.

After making the place welcoming, the second phase began: making it as safe as possible.

Sobek already had some traps in mind, so the dinosaurs got busy right away. They dug holes and covered them with leaves, used vines to drop branches, and other things that Sobek had seen in films about guerrillas.

However one day, while he was working, Blue showed up to him with another dinosaur. Sobek had no doubts in recognizing him: those plates on the back and those powerful thorns on the tail were unmistakable. It was a stegosaurus. "Pack leader!" Blue called him. "Forgive the inconvenience, but we need to talk to you. He is a friend of mine and he just had a brilliant idea to improve our defenses!"

Sobek was glad that the dinosaurs occasionally proved autonomous; he didn't like the idea that they depended too much on him. So he gladly accepted that request. "What is your name?" he asked the stegosaurus.

"Pierce, pack leader" the armored dinosaur replied.

"Very good, Pierce. I listen to you"

The stegosaurus looked happy, then moved slightly to show its tail with four sharp spikes. "I've been thinking over the past few days how to make our defenses better, and I've been thinking about things that make me or other dinosaurs so safe, and I've come to a conclusion. I, like many others like Triceratops, use thorn-shaped bones to prevent predators from hitting me. Therefore, I propose to cut down some trees and sharpen the tip, and then plant them with the side facing the outside of the valley, so as to avoid any attack!"

Pierce was actually proposing to build pickets and fortify the perimeter with them. The idea of the stegosaurus was good, but unfortunately he was reflecting with the canons of animals and did not take into consideration the use of heavy weapons. A flamethrower would have been enough to bring down the fortifications. "I don't deny it's an interesting idea, but I'm afraid I have to decline. So much wood along the border would increase the risks of a fire. It would be enough one single lightning to cause a firestorm". Sobek obviously couldn't tell the truth yet, so he fell back on the more obvious excuse.

But surprisingly Pierce shook his head. "I thought about it too, pack leader, and I found the solution!"

Sobek opened his eyes: "Sorry? What do you mean?"

"He is telling the truth, pack leader!" Blue supported the stegosaurus. "Pierce spent the precedent two days asking various small dinosaurs how they survived fires in their lifetime, and eventually one of them told him about how he once dipped in a strange mud and that got him. protected. At that point Pierce came to me and together we looked for this mud. And it's all true! It is a mushy, thick substance found in abundance near the mouth of the river. Once solidified, it takes the shape of what surrounds it and becomes very hard!"

That mud most likely must have been clay, or some kind of clay. Sobek didn't know, but he didn't care. What mattered to him was that if things were really like that then maybe the idea of setting up pickets wasn't all that bad.

A human alone could not carry too heavy weapons. The rifles and pistols would not have made a scratch on the tree trunks; it would take hours to break one, and the sound would be heard from miles away. Even with a bazooka it would have been difficult to break through. But humans could also count on weapons such as flamethrowers, which would create a new enemy, fire, which would spread rapidly in the forest, putting many lives at risk. But if the dinosaurs had sprinkled the pegs with that clay, or clay, then the flamethrowers would have become useless!

Humans could always count on much more powerful weapons, but for those they would have needed tanks or vehicles to transport them, and for them Sobek could create difficult paths and establish traps that prevented their use.

It seemed like a good idea. A further fortification was certainly not a bad thing, and moreover creating a fireproof wall along the perimeter of the valley would have prevented any fires from reaching it!

Sobek didn't expect to receive such a proposal from a dinosaur, or at least not from a stegosaurus, which was notoriously considered one of the least intelligent dinosaurs after sauropods since it had a bad brain-to-body ratio. Basically, he had a brain the size of a walnut in a body the size of a truck. He couldn't exactly be a genius.

It really seemed that the brainpower of all dinosaurs, even the dumbest ones, was improving at an increasing rate. Sobek estimated that if they continued at that speed, within a few years the dinosaurs could build a civilization of their own even without the System, of course if humans don't interfere. Dinosaurs could have learned to write, control fire, use it to melt metals and objects. In the long run they could have reached a level of civilization no less than that of human beings.

Eventually he decided that idea was worth a try. "Okay, I trust you. You had a good idea, Pierce. You and Blue will supervise the work. Please, you must make sure that the thorns are not visible from above. For the rest, do as you wish; indeed, create an impassable wall!"

Pierce looked over the moon after being praised by his pack leader, and even more so when he found himself receiving such a prestigious assignment. "I will not disappoint you, pack leader!" he declared happy.

"Me neither!" Blue added.

"I'm sure of it" Sobek replied. "I'm confident that everything will be ok!"