Jocelyne looked at the NMWA envoy with inattention, who had been talking for ten minutes. "I say it for you! Your nation will benefit too!" he exclaimed. "We may not have another chance! You MUST take advantage of it!"

Jocelyne wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes wearily. The envoy, whom she thought was called Grigorji, was already the sixth that the NMWA sent to speak to her in an attempt to persuade her to allow the movement of weapons on the soil of the Great Republic of Beleriard. And it had only been three weeks since she became president.

After the election, you immediately set out to counter the demands of the NMWA, which, as she had foreseen, had become increasingly difficult. Foreign nations were literally trying to crush the Great Republic of Beleriard, but Jocelyne had prepared for it in advance.

After she became president, she immediately appointed Jackson as foreign minister, and the latter firmly opposed the NMWA's claims, continually recalling the principle of self-determination of peoples that the NMWA itself prided itself on defending. With the help of Chloe and the connections he had in foreign countries, Jackson had continually blocked any of their requests in a perfectly legal manner.

Initially the NMWA had tried to use Article 5 of the Constitution, in which the Great Republic of Beleriard opposed the war except for its own defense and that of its allies, recalling that as members of the NMWA they were their allies. However, Jackson had in turn reminded them that the war that lay ahead was not one of defense but of offense, since the dinosaurs had no interest in provoking it. And when the NMWA tried to convince the masses that dinosaurs were a threat to the world, and therefore a preemptive strike could be considered as a defense, Jackson retorted that there was no evidence and that in any case under the principles of the Constitution the Great Republic of Beleriard wouldn't authorize any war operations unless the dinosaurs made the first move.

Thus began the threats that soon translated into a real naval blockade to prevent trade with other nations. The NMWA had stated that the blockade would last as long as the Great Republic of Beleriard didn't allow the deployment of weapons on its soil. However, it went against the principles of the Constitution and therefore even if they wanted to, the natives couldn't have granted it; some of the most cowardly had proposed to change the Constitution, but the first twelve articles could not be changed. Dreyfus, the nation's new Supreme Judge, had watched like a hawk on this matter.

The NMWA expected that the Great Republic of Beleriard would succumb in a few days, but on the contrary, the nation was doing very well. The food produced by the mangers Sobek donated could feed everyone, the houses were sufficient, the mega-plant could produce energy and raw materials in quantity, and Jocelyne had started a three-year plan that was already giving jobs to many unemployed. The new president aimed above all at the construction of new factories, obviously with clean energy, which would manufacture furniture, toys, tools and all those other things that were currently being exported from abroad, so as to become completely independent. On the contrary, foreign nations were beginning to suffer from the trade blockade imposed on the Great Republic of Beleriard, as many raw materials came from that territory. In fact, while abroad was becoming impoverished, the Great Republic of Beleriard was only getting stronger.

Jocelyne, however, knew that the NMWA wouldn't stand by and in fact after appointing Abe as defense minister he had ordered him to begin a real reconstruction of their army. And in fact, in a very short time in other countries, the belief began to spread that the Great Republic of Beleriard had betrayed humanity and that therefore it should no longer be subject to the rules of the NMWA, but rather it had to be expelled and then invaded to re-establish the order. And after less than a couple of days the threats began to arrive, obviously unofficial and very veiled, but very clear to a careful eye.

Jocelyne wasn't about to be intimidated. She had built that nation precisely to avoid war and she would certainly not give in to some big-voiced messenger of hers. " 'You must', my good lord, is not a common word when you DISCUSS with the president of a foreign country"

"It is now" Grigorji answered sourly. "Well, open your eyes! This is your chance to make your nation powerful again!"

"So, in your view, sending millions to die and seeing my cities turned into a sea of blood would be a better way to 'make the nation powerful again' than preserving peace and focusing on economic growth and cultural heritage of the country?" Jocelyne shook her head. She had been much more veiled with the previous ambassadors, but she was really tired now and she refused to even mince her words. "Are you offended if I tell you that you disgust me?"

Grigorji was clearly irritated, but he did not lose his composure: "The threats of the dinosaurs are just words in the wind. You know we will win..."

"No it is not true. There is no guarantee of victory, and above all there is no guarantee that the war will end in a few months and will not continue beyond. But you don't care, doesn't it?" Jocelyne's right eyebrow began to tremble visibly. "The battle will take place here on Maakanar anyway. From your point of view it will be just a border line on the other side of the world, while you will be sitting comfortably in your armchairs, safe in your homes. I bet you would think differently if instead the battle took place under your home"

Jocelyne hated the attitude of foreign nations, both of their rulers and their peoples. Everyone thought war was a good idea because the conflict would take place far away, on a different continent, and so even if things got bad the dinosaurs couldn't reach them. They were just a bunch of selfish fools.

Grigorji seemed willing to reply, but Jocelyne stopped him: "Tell me, ambassador, do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Uh? Of course not…"

"Am I someone who would throw his people away as garbage?"

A further denial. "So trust me when I tell you that war is the worst choice the NMWA can make, and I'm not saying this lightly. I have analyzed every single possible future scenario, and do you know what I have seen? Death. Death of millions, even billions of people. No matter who wins or who loses, most of the world's population will perish anyway. But there is a future, very weak, which instead sees the birth of a new world, one that is fairer and freer, and perhaps even more united"

"And selling yourself to the dinosaurs would be freedom?" spat Grigorji without realizing it.

Jocelyne's eyes flashed and for a moment the ambassador felt melted by them. The fact that the dinosaurs had helped in the current food situation was no secret, even if their methods still remained so; but if people in the Great Republic of Beleriard had begun to see dinosaurs in a better light, foreign nations took this information as proof that the Jersey family had sold out to dinosaurs. And that made Jocelyne mad. "Sell us to the dinosaurs? Is this what you think !?" he roared. "Have you ever heard of mutual collaboration? Of coexistence, the same that lord Sobek does is ask since its existence became known to the public? Let me give you a wake up call: the dinosaurs don't give a shit about the title of 'dominant species'. He doesn't care about ruling humans or anything. What they want is to finally be able to live in peace and stop seeing their environment torn apart by the wickedness of humanity! If lord Sobek really wanted to rule us, you can rest assured that this nation and many others would have long since disappeared from the map!"

"Why, can dinosaurs possibly cross the sea?" he tried to retort Grigorji, but he realized from the first moments that he had made a mistake.

A dark aura seemed to rise around Jocelyne, as if hellfire was engulfing her and threatening to pounce on Grigorji and consume him to her bones. The ambassador did not remember ever having felt such fear for anyone, and he certainly did not expect such a murderous instinct to come from a girl who was yet to turn sixteen. For Jocelyne, Grigorji's words had been confirmation that foreign nations didn't care about the fate of the Great Republic of Beleriard, and that they thought war was a good idea because they were protected from the sea. "I'm not an expert, but I understand that all three continents have intelligent dinosaurs by now. How will this be possible? Maybe because they found a way to cross the ocean? Have you ever thought that maybe you are not the only ones to travel by sea, or that dinosaurs have evolved a different way of moving than ships? You are pathetic if you think you are safe just because there is a little water to separate you. Now I will tell you in a clear and round way: you will NEVER carry a weapon on the territory of my nation! We will not follow you into a death spiral, because this is how it will end: by entering the war you will only give the gravediggers a lot of work. Did I get the help of the dinosaurs? Yes, and as it happens my nation is thriving despite all your attempts to make it capitulate! How many other nations can boast of having all their citizens with full bellies? And don't tell me that there isn't enough food, because for years we have been producing more food than we could ever consume, yet millions of people die of hunger every year, all to satisfy the craving of a few individuals! And do you dare to say that dinosaurs are bad!?"

Grigorji backed away from those words. Jocelyne hadn't moved an inch, she hadn't even bowed her head a bit, but the ambassador felt as if the new president was walking towards him with a huge sword in his hand. Jocelyne, however, had no intention of stopping: "Of course, it seems obvious to me! The villains are a group of creatures that help my country out of poverty, and in return they only ask that we stop destroying their environment, which I understand we can do without any problem! And you, who instead want a war that will only devastate the whole world, bringing suffering to all and condemning millions, perhaps even billions of people, are the good guys! An indisputable reasoning, nothing to say!"

Jocelyne was now struggling to breathe and was more than sure her pulse was pounding, but she couldn't calm her anger. In those three weeks that she began her term as president, she discovered that she felt a deep disgust both for the NMWA and for all those who supported it. They were nothing more than a bunch of idiots who did not realize the terrible consequences of their actions and just wanted to be able to return to the old regime, no matter what it would bring to ordinary people. "Open your eyes, and tell your friends on the NMWA to do the same: we are at the beginning of a new era and change is inevitable. Those who accept the new world and accept to change their mentality will prosper, those who remain anchored to the old customs will end up in the abyss and will be remembered by future generations as some of the most stupid, arrogant and crazy people in history. If you want to fight, send your people to die, not mine". She indicated the door with a nod of her head: "We're done, Ambassador. Go back to the NMWA and tell them that neither I nor any person with a minimum of brains in the entire Great Republic of Beleriard will ever accept that you bring war to our territory. The only thing I can promise you is that when YOUR nations begin to capitulate, I will be happy to open our doors and host refugees in my country"

Grigorji was silent, then turned and walked out, not even saying goodbye as he left. Jocelyne didn't blame him.

"You were really authoritarian"

Jocelyne moved her eyes and saw Jafar appear on her right shoulder. "I couldn't do anything about it. It's the sixth now and I can't take it anymore"

"It wasn't a criticism. It is important for us that a leader shows its strength, whether it is physical or moral" Jafar explained. "I really don't understand why you humans go around the subject so much and waste time with good manners. You would do much better to say directly what you want. After all, aggressive communication is the best way to intimidate the opponent and convince him to do what you want"

"I'm starting to believe it too" Jocelyne replied with a sigh. "Why are you here?"

"I'm always here" the snake reminded her.

"Yeah, right, I forgot. So why did you show yourself?" Since Jafar was almost always concealed by [Ambush] Jocelyne often forgot that he was always beside her to protect her.

The snake clicked her tongue. "The pack leader told me to inform you that everything went as planned. Your messenger delivered the message and the pack leader agreed to send an ambassador"

Jocelyne smiled. She and Sobek had agreed that the plan to bring dinosaurs and humans together had to be started as soon as possible, but for obvious reasons Jocelyne had first had to deal with the nation's internal problems. The country finally seemed to be stable again recently, so Jocelyne decided the time was right. Since she couldn't just call Sobek, as the population would have gotten suspicious, she had as usual sent a messenger to the dinosaurs to invite them to a meeting. That way there would have been no bothering questions. Sobek then pretended to have received the message and accepted the negotiations. "Who will be the ambassador?"

Jafar let out a hiss that surprised Jocelyne: "Al"