"It is not so? What other reason could you have?" the giganotosaurus growled.

"A brain that works, for example. This is what I have. Tell me, have you tried to think even for a second what an open warf with humans would entail at the moment?" Sobek returned Snork's defiant gaze. "Tell me, would exterminating the humans present here have helped our brothers who are still prisoners? Can you run fast enough to cross the ocean in time to save them? If we went to war, who do you think would be the first humans to turn against? We, who are well armed, or our brothers still prisoners, who are instead defenseless and therefore an excellent means to vent their anger?"

Snock fell silent for a moment. It was clear that he didn't have an answer to that question.

Sobek sighed. Like all hotheads, Snock had only looked at the immediate result, without thinking in a more forward-looking way. He wasted no time and added to the dose: "Tell me, what would happen if we went to war now? Do you think humans would not exploit our brothers as hostages, as we are doing with them? Do you think they wouldn't use it against us? Tell me, Snock, if humans put dozens of our chained brothers in a row and hide behind them, would you be able to fire at our own people?"

Forming a wall with hostages was certainly not a new thing for humanity. In almost all wars, soldiers on both sides had used civilians, often women and children, as shields. If dinosaurs and humans had gone to war, humans would not have hesitated to use their captive dinosaurs as a means of confusing enemy armies. After all, shooting at your own brother was a traumatic experience: this alone would have been enough to bring down the morale of the troops.

Unfortunately, Snock and many other dinosaurs had only evaluated a potential conflict from their own point of view, which was the one of the animals. And since the animals didn't use hostages and were not experts in psychological warfare, the giganotosaurus had not even considered that possibility. The truth was that even Snock, who had been tortured and abused by them, had no idea how cruel humans REALLY could be. To win the war, especially if their survival had been in the field, they wouldn't have hesitated to stain themselves with brutal and amoral acts.

All the fine words and speeches about good and evil that humans prided themselves on were actually nothing more than a privilege. Only people who were born under certain conditions could afford to behave morally. But once survival was put at risk, humans became monsters and there was no barrier that could stop them. Any act that they previously would have regarded as hideous and terrifying would have been done without batting an eye. Even an innocent child could turn into a ruthless serial killer if he had the right solicitations. And Sobek knew this, because he had been a human in his previous life, in a world even more brutal than Eden.

And it wasn't over… "What if they even used our own brothers against us? What if they tortured them so much that they lost their reason, and turned them into soldiers to fight for them? Tell me, Snock, would you be able to kill them? Would you have the strength to look your brother in the eye and fight to the death? Would you be willing to sacrifice it for the good of all the people?"

That too was a technique often used in wars, or guerrillas or even just by terrorist groups. Being able to bend a person's mind and brainwash him was much easier than previously believed. The animals perhaps had a little more willpower, but even they could not resist against the most advanced means of torture. If there was one thing that humans knew how to do well, it was inventing instruments of pain.

If the war between humans and dinosaurs had broken out, humans would certainly have tried to control some dinosaurs, both to be able to send them as spies, and because on the battlefield they would have greatly lowered the spirits of their opponents.

"I put this comedy together and accepted this peace treaty because it was the only thing I could do, you idiot!" Sobek snapped. "This was the only way. Now we have the opportunity to bring all our people together and secure them. We will take away from the humans a card with an enormous power that they would surely use against us if we tried to attack them. Forty million, Snock, we're talking about forty million dinosaurs! We can save all these lives using one tool, diplomacy! Strength is not always the key to protecting our people! Sometimes, we are forced to come to terms!"

Sobek brought his muzzle close to Snock's, as if to whisper in his ears: "Do you think this conflict is over for me? You are wrong. This is just a respite. Only an idiot would believe that the war with humans is already over, we are barely at the beginning. We still have a lot to do and humans will not always be so compliant. But this peace treaty, this momentary truce, was absolutely necessary. We will now gather our people and not only increase our strength, but we will take away their advantage from humans. Tell me, Snock, how would you have solved this situation? Just marching against humans? And when humans started killing our brothers to vent their frustration, or using them as shields, or sending them against us, what would you do? Would you have ignored them? Maybe killed yourself? Would you have sacrificed him in the name of a greater good? Is this what you think? Shall we protect the majority and fuck the minority?". Sobek's eyes flashed. "If you think so, then for me you are no different from a human"

Snock's body trembled visibly. The giganotosaurus seemed to have lost all his willpower. He didn't even seem to have the courage to look him in the eyes. His gaze was lost in the void, as if he had just realized a terrible truth. In a way, it was just like that.

Sobek looked around. The dinosaurs who had witnessed the duel weren't saying a word. Some even looked away and their eyes were filled with shame. Evidently, many of them had thought like Snock that he, Sobek, was a coward, and now that they realized the truth they didn't dare make eye contact with him.

This was enough for Sobek. Now his words would spread by word of mouth, and only fools would still misunderstand his intentions. With a quick movement he moved away, finally freeing Snock. The giganotosaurus raised his head in surprise, probably wondering why he hadn't killed him, but as soon as he met Sobek's gaze he cringed under his fiery eyes.

"Get out now, Snock, before I think about it" Sobek ordered coldly, and with a claw swipe he tore off the marks that marked Snock's position in the pack. The giganotosaurus growled in pain, and immediately afterwards he felt a shiver as he sensed that all abilities were vanishing from his body. In just a second, he was back to being a simple dinosaur.

"Go away, I said!" Sobek roared again. "Go east, as far as possible from here, and never dare to interact with a member of the pack again! Never, never again! If you dare to return without my permission, I swear I will set you on fire personally!"

Many dinosaurs shivered at Sobek's threat. Dying burnt was the worst death ever and any living creature feared it. Sobek was practically declaring that if Snock returned he would have reserved the worst of torture.

Snock backed away, but then stopped. His entire body was shaking. He was not a fool: he knew that this was in effect an exile. But he didn't want to leave the pack. He wasn't afraid of dying, but he didn't want to lose that big, wonderful family. "Pack leader..." he tried to say, but was immediately interrupted.

"Don't call me that!" Sobek growled with eyes of fire. "Only members of the pack have the right to call me that, and you aren't one of them. I don't intend to keep in my pack someone who dares to challenge my authority or who is proud enough to believe they know what is best for our people, much less someone who thinks like a human"

That last sentence literally made Snock's skin crawl. Being compared to the beings he hated most for the giganotosaurus was like being hit on the head. He desperately wanted to retort, but whatever he meant promptly vanished from his mind whenever he looked into Sobek's furious face. Eventually, he just walked away with his head down. Sobek was also quite sure he had seen a tear, but that certainly didn't touch him.

He stared at the other dinosaurs. Still no one was daring to speak or move. "What are you still doing here? The show is over, go back to your work!" Sobek ordered in a rather annoyed tone, and no one dared contradict him.

"Good. When my words will spread, no one will dare to question my decisions anymore" he thought. He was satisfied: in a way, Snock had done him a favor. It was important for an army to trust their commander, but many dinosaurs stopped believing in Sobek after he accepted peace with humans. Now that his reasons had become known to all, only the stupidest could still doubt him. He had just regained his absolute authority over him.

Sobek's thinking was not wrong. In the following days, no one ever came to challenge him again. And according to Old Li, whom Sobek had asked to investigate, all the dinosaurs had fully regained their faith in him and now even praised him for choosing him.