Just finished lunch, there was going to be another float parade on Main Street, U.S.A., and this time, nobody wanted to miss it again, so they all rushed towards the center of Magic Kingdom.
The people who came to watch the parade were quite numerous, divided into Shiller's team, Bruce's team, Nick's team, Strange's team, and Loki's team. When they converged on the center, they inevitably bumped into each other.
Therefore, Shiller, Nick, Strange and Loki came together again, and when the others saw them, they too gathered around.
Whether it was the float parade or theater performance, everyone was allowed to sit in the front row with the privilege of interacting with the actors. They all stood in the first row behind the guardrail, watching one float come after another.
Mickey and Minnie stood on the hot air balloon leading the parade, constantly waving at the audience. Following behind was Peter Pan dancing with his arms wide. Donald Duck gripped his hat in his hands while Goofy and Winnie the Pooh held hands and danced.
There were also the Stardust family singing and dancing, and Buzz Lightyear maneuvering his laser gun, making shooting gestures. Rabbit Judy and Fox Nick stood hand in hand on a car, while the Disney Princess Group kept throwing candies to the crowd from the rear.
At the end of the procession were many of the animal friends, such as Pumbaa and Timon from "The Lion King", Stitch wearing a flower wreath, and Pink Strawberry Bear.
Of course, there was also a separate carriage for Princess Elsa and her Ice and Snow Castle, surrounded by fog spewing bubble machines, with the princess in her blue dress continuously waving to the crowd.
The floats of Disney were uniquely designed. For instance, on the one Buzz Lightyear rode, the dinosaur on top could sway back and forth and roar. Mrs. Potts' float not only had a lid that could open, it could also spew steam.
The parade route was narrow, and many characters would even walk and shake hands with the audience. Even from a distance, one could clearly see that all the seemingly floating floats had wheels underneath, the characters were all in mascot suits, and there were lever structures underneath the movable machinery.
But people never tired of dancing to the upbeat music, yelling the names of their favorite characters, hoping to attract their attention. Astonishingly, the happiest ones were not the children, but their parents and even grandparents.
This phenomenon set Shiller's party, the first-time visitors to Disneyland, to ponder.
Thanos, cloaked in Loki's invisibility magic, adjusted his glasses and said, "Not all species across the star systems have the ability to deceive themselves. Although the vast majority of races possess emotions, many are brutally practical and, hence, quite unhappy."
"Happiness is not something they need, they never seek emotional value. The abundance of cultures and arts developed by humans isn't a show of vanity once their civilization thrives, but a salve, soothing pains encountered during their journey from barbarism to prosperity. So it is very special."
After laughing a bit, Loki said, "Indeed. For a long time, Asgard completely gave up on literature and art. We thought we should focus on other more important matters."
"Until we became a very prosperous civilization, and the resources necessary for survival were no longer problems, we picked up pens once more to portray a culture unique to us."
"The Shi'ar Empire is now in a period of artistic oblivion." Thanos recalled and said, "This nation once forbade any form of art. But the grand wedding of the Queen and her first husband broke some restrictions. It appears now that the Queen is determined to carry out her views and revive the arts in the Shi'ar Empire."
"It's unimaginable for humans to exist without literature and art." Loki shook his head and said, "Moreover, the more hardship and poverty they endure, the more astonishing their artistic achievements."
"What's more astonishing is that instead of seeking answers within themselves and hardening their exteriors like sturdy tree trunks, they choose to bloom like beautiful flowers from their vulnerabilities."
"Due to their sensitivity to emotions, the artworks they create are all expressions of their feelings. Emotion is a universal currency to all sentient beings in the cosmos. Hence I have no doubt that human art holds value in the universe and could be appreciated."
"Indeed." Thanos nodded and said, "In fact, more and more civilizations have begun to show interest in the Nine Major Kingdoms."
"Thanks to the open diplomacy adopted by His Majesty Thor, many civilizations are considering taking a risk to glimpse the scenery within the Nine Major Kingdoms. However, guest reception is still a big issue. You should understand it better than I do."
Loki sighed deeply and shook his head, "Just thinking about it gives me a headache. Those brutes from Asgard are definitely not suited for the service industry. Asking them to smile more at the guests feels like asking them to give up their lives."
After chuckling twice, Thanos said, "You'd better not let them smile. After all, someone who had beaten up your grandpa and your grandpa's grandpa, suddenly smiling widely at you, it would hardly seem like anything other than mocking."
"It seems like you highly regard humans."
"I don't just hold a high regard for humans." Thanos squinted and said, "Don't tell me you haven't thought about it. It's no coincidence that significant events in the universe always revolve around this tiny planet. There's a legend in the cosmos that Earth is the birthplace of life."
"You know there's no such thing as a birthplace of life in the universe." Loki looked at Thanos with confusion and said, "Civilizations originate within their own galaxy."
"But the appearance of life is strikingly consistent." Thanos said: "The Titan Clan once had a legend, that at the origin of the cosmos, a powerful race became the sowers of life. All living beings in the universe originate from them, and they emerged from Earth."
"So, the Titan Clan has always wanted to reclaim Earth, but I know that it's just their wishful thinking."
Now that Thanos was no longer so obsessed with death, mainly because Death was too busy to entice Thanos due to Shiller's interference, this once mad Titan has become increasingly sober, with eyes as sharp as an hawk and a sense of smell as sensitive as a wolf.
"It's not surprising that Earth has continuously spawned so many strong beings. Something nourished them, and the secret lies in their genetics. It's not just the Titan Clan that's aware of this issue in the cosmos."
"So, Asgard needs to make a decision. Humans are like a dazzling but fragile gemstone, which can easily attract the attention of interstellar civilizations, but can also provoke covetousness."
"Even though they might not stage a large-scale attack against the Nine Major Kingdoms, it's quite simple for them to manipulate behind the scenes for 'research'. Once humans realize this, they would blame Asgard for exposing them."
Loki's expression gradually became serious. He knew that Thanos was giving him genuine advice. The culture of the Titan Clan also originated from Earth. In essence, they are gods from the same Earth civilization circle as the Asgardians. Their relationship with humans is complicated, but generally speaking, they are all in the same boat.
Now there are practically no Titans left, while Asgard faces the uncertain fate of Ragnarok. Even though humans are still weak, they have boundless potential. Once they smoothly pass the explosive development phase, they will be capable of providing for any race in the Earth civilization circle."
The relationship between civilizations is like business relations. The idea of a common origin and lineage essentially comes down to depending on someone for old age. All the alien civilizations that are willing to support humans now share the same thought, with Asgard having the most say."
But having greater say also brings about disadvantages, as deep-seated influences may result in mistaken judgments. Regardless of how human civilization might develop in the future, even the current Earth's mighty ones on it would have to fight them."
"Perhaps we could try establishing an experimental tourist spot instead of directly throwing aliens to Earth for sightseeing," said Loki, rubbing his chin. He then had an idea and asked, "Do aliens dream?"
The other three members of the Unscrupulous Quartet were discussing issues with the Battleworld gaming system. Strange started, "The two partners you found have no imagination at all. The entire gaming system is cruder than Windows 98. Its operation is cumbersome, the modules are disordered, and even some computer science and visual communication students could do better than this."
"UI optimization is indeed the upcoming direction." Sighed Shiller. "I personally built the store module, but it doesn't match the overall system style. Having only the store so fine-tuned, anyone could see that it is a money-making scheme. Thus, other system optimizations must also be placed on the agenda."
"That's easy." Nick snapped his fingers, "I'll have Coulson find some professionals in the prison. With the experience of introducing professionals from the Holy Sanctuary, we should be able to update the whole system in about half a month."
"We need to expedite the informatization process," Strange continued, "We can't just watch performances on-site. That's way too backward. We should quickly establish the Multiverse TV network so that viewers can stay home to watch games, receive payouts in seconds, and get toy products the next day…"
Shiller started pondering how to implement these ideas.
First, it's impossible that the Marvel and DC worlds would fully connect their networks because of too many copyright exchange issues. For instance, a series of toys that Disney owns the copyright to couldn't appear in DC, so their peripherals wouldn't sell.
Second, if a copyright exchange were to be carried out for every match viewed, that would be too tedious. It's much better to project matches from outside the major worlds. Once travel between universes is enabled, the best outcome is that they'll get in trouble with both sides simultaneously."
But that doesn't mean we can't create a local network within the major worlds. The goal is to find something like the Spider Totem, able to transmit information through multiple universes, or someone who can."
To achieve real-time information transmission, speedy delivery, and instant feedback on logistics information, the speed of the item or person in movement must be sufficient."
Immediately upon thinking about speed, Shiller naturally thought of The Flash.
Barry has many advantages, the most important being that his character is similar to that of Spider Man. Both are kind, humble, and good at teamwork. This ensures that they wouldn't fight when put together."
Secondly, is there a better metaverse courier than The Flash? Instant delivery within one second beats next-day delivery.
One second you click the purchase button on your computer, the next second the package lands on your head. Is there a better logistics system than this?
Additionally, if someone gives a bad review, The Flash could rush to batman in his own universe for persuasion. If Batman's persuasion fails, he could use the Joker. Wouldn't that lead to excellent reviews?