Hollywood Park is actually quite small, and there are fewer attractions than the Magic Kingdom, so the group headed straight for the Star Wars Zone as soon as they left the central square. That's when Shiller saw such a large gathering of Americans for the first time.
America can certainly be described as a vast yet sparsely populated country, and it's a nation of immigrants. You can usually guess which country someone has emigrated from based on their clothing, but Shiller was very certain that the Americans queuing up in front of them were all flag-waving patriots.
The queue reminded Shiller of a train station during the Spring Festival rush. No exaggeration, every single person was crowded together, shoulder-to-shoulder, comparably to falling dominoes.
And before he could feel lucky about having super fast-track privileges, he found that the super-fast lane was also filled with people, thoroughly congested.
"Well, since we came here for this, it does not make sense not to queue," sighed Steven, flipping his hair and saying, "Let's go queue."
They queued for a solid three hours.
They queued from morning till noon. They were indeed queuing at the super fast-track for the first half, and it would take about half an hour to reach the front, but just as they were about to get there, Captain America noticed a little boy leaning on crutches, sweating profusely in the crowded queue, unable to keep his injured foot steady.
After communicating with the boy's parents, they found out that the child was born with a disability in one of his legs, and could only go out with crutches. After getting everyone's approval, Steven gave his super-fast-track privilege to them.
However, it was somewhat risky for the little boy to go in alone, and the staff hoped that his parents would accompany him. Thus, the rest also gave their super fast-track privileges to the boy's family. After receiving applause from the rest of the queue and a large bunch of badges from the staff, they went back to the normal queue.
This time it was better, the boy and his family bought them cold drinks after finishing the ride. As they ate ice cream and chatted away, they didn't feel bored at all.
T'Challa had a lot to say about the future plans of Wakanda, and more people recognized Steve and asked for his autograph, so the three hours passed quickly.
The ride was known as Star Wars; visitors take a trackless battleship and travel through the scenes of Star Wars. The scenes were meticulously designed, immersive, but the battleship's up and down weightless sensations were quite intense.
Afterwards, Ororo covered her chest and said, "Thank goodness the Kree didn't build their battleships like this, otherwise, I would vomit three times just during a trip to the Andromeda Galaxy."
T'Challa laughed beside her, saying while gently patting her back, "That's because the route from Earth to the capital of Andromeda is already well established, there are no sudden attacks or turbulence."
"If you ride the Wakanda spaceship during battle, you would want to vomit out yesterday's lunch, even the most advanced flying facilities can hardly avoid short-term acceleration and the weight loss feeling during speed reduction."
Ororo took a deep breath, fanning herself and said, "You guys can go play more if you want, I'll rest here for a while."
"I heard there are many great souvenir shops nearby." Shiller suggested, "We can buy some cold drinks, walk around and rest, then go to the next ride."
Everyone agreed with this suggestion, so they bought some snacks at a food stall. On the way, Steve picked up a map of the Star Wars Zone.
Then they discovered that the entire Star Wars theme park had a main storyline.
The main story could be summarized as follows: This is a small, inconspicuous planet on the edge of the Milky Way, called Batu Star. It used to be a bridgehead for interstellar trade in the Milky Way, but it could not seize the opportunity of the times due to the rapid development of various civilizations in the Milky Way, and was replaced by other more prosperous planets.
Now, Batu has become a declining star, but it has also become a safe haven for many people tired of interstellar struggle. There are still many types of people like smugglers, outlaws, etc., in operation here.
Following the guidance of the main story, Steve and the group first went to a clothing store, where they found many classic outfits from the Star Wars series, including clothing for the Jedi First Legion, smugglers, and other characters. Shiller even saw a classic "I am your father" style black cloak.
Of course, they also went to a weapon shop. After leaving the Black Peak Station of Batu Star, they came to a mysterious weapon workshop located in a desolate cave. It seemed to be a secret base where a smuggling group smuggled and modified weapons.
Shiller was a bit surprised to find that the lightsabers sold here were actually customizable.
In simple terms, instead of a light-up glow stick, you can choose the style of the hilt, the shape of the shell, the color of the light, the style of the switch, and even the screws on the hilt, the carved decoration on the tip of the sword, and the small accessories that can be tied to the hilt.
Upon seeing this, everyone became energized. Shiller began to pick and choose among various parts, eventually choosing a bright silver sword hilt, a similarly metallic silver screw, red sword light, and a First Legion logo hung at the end.
"I hate that thing," the cloak-clad shopkeeper grumbled, "they chased me for a long time, but since you want it, it's up to you."
Steve's lightsaber was more sunny, most of the parts were white, the sword light was blue, very modern and techie.
T'Challa assembled an African-style laser sword using the parts in the smuggler's style. Specifically, the outer casing of the hilt was dark brown and mimicked wood, the screws were wrapped with thin hemp rope, bone-carved decorations were hung on the tail by a string, and the sword light was a passionate orange.
T'Challa and Ororo looked at the product of their collaboration and felt very satisfied.
T'Challa specifically picked up Wakanda's laser spear for comparison, and also assembled a lightsaber similar to Wakanda's mechanical style.
The surrounding tourists were all attracted by the cool laser spear, and the store owner said in a rather impatient voice, "Don't ask anymore, I don't have what he's holding. God knows how to evade the Legion's pursuit with such a flashy weapon, not to mention those annoying Jedi…"
They all took their massive haul to the checkout counter, Steve winced at the price, but then cheered up when he thought about getting reimbursed for it all. T'Challa nodded and said, "The prices aren't bad. They tried to set up a special wildlife park near Wakanda before, but my father didn't agree, he doesn't like Americans much."
"That makes sense." Ororo rolled her eyes slightly and said, "They just want to seize your resources, they don't understand animals, or Africa."
T'Challa comforted his fiancée with a smile and said, "I mean we can set up our own amusement park, with an African style, Wakandan style."
"Did you see it? The tourists were really into our weapons. I believe they will be impressed by the valor of our warriors. It's a great opportunity to promote Wakanda to the world."
"And not just Wakanda. The voodoo culture of the Monroe family in Kenya is also very appealing. Modern society loves this kind of ancient and mysterious thing."
Shiller nodded in agreement. He hadn't had time to visit Wakanda and other African countries since coming to Marvel, but perhaps T'Challa's wedding wasn't far off, at which time they could go together.
As they left the store, Steve joked, "We can't let Tony come here, or he'll talk about his experience in Afghanistan the whole time."
Both Shiller and T'Challa laughed because the environment in the cave was indeed a bit like Afghanistan, and the process of assembling weapons would certainly bring back a lot of unpleasant memories for Stark.
Then they ran into Stark in the next store.
This was a shop called Robot Warehouse, which was the most unique store in the Star Wars Zone, because here was a workshop where you could assemble your own exclusive robot.
Similar to a Lego workshop, it had a large number of robot parts, blueprints, chips, a variety of textbooks and technical manuals, and dedicated staff for hands-on instruction.
In the main plotline, the group that arrived at Batu Star changed their clothes to blend in with the locals and secretly acquired weapons. They then felt that they needed to use the special robot technology on Batu Star to trace the enemies behind them.
So, they found an abandoned robot warehouse full of parts, and here they encountered a friendly scientist. Under the guidance of the scientist, they obtained their first reconnaissance robot.
The warehouse had rows of cabinets on both sides, similar to vending machines. Once parts were obtained, they could be used for assembly. As they walked in, they bumped into Stark who was holding a pile of parts.
Stark was somewhat shocked to see the group coming in and even tried to turn around and hide, but he was quickly spotted by the sharp-eyed Steve.
"Tony, what are you doing here?"
"Keep your voice down!" Tony lowered his voice, pushed his sunglasses hard, and then said, "If people here find out the world's most talented scientist, Stark, is competing with them, they'll cry."
"Are you planning to assemble these little gadgets?" Steve looked left and right and said, "They look like those Lego blocks, only rounder. Do you want to join us?"
"I don't need you guys." Stark said fiercely, "Having you around lowers my IQ. Get out of here, I'm about to revive Batu Star's mechanical engineering technology all by myself!"
The store clerk who was supposed to play the scientist was laughing on the side. He obviously recognized Captain America and Iron Man. It was only when Stark tried to leave in a huff that the shop assistant laughed, walked up to stop him and took him to assemble the robot.
However, the robots in this shop aren't as aggressive as those in the Robot Wars competition. It's not easy to have a good fight here, it's more child-oriented. After playing for a while, Stark lost interest and left the shop with Steve and the others.
Only Ororo bought a robot assembled by Stark and said, "My nephew is a fan of yours. He's always wanted to buy the same armor as you and really likes robots. If I tell him that you assembled this robot, he will be thrilled."
Stark immediately snapped his fingers and said, "I'll sign it for him later with a marker. Make sure not to leak this outside, or else Pepper will give me trouble again."
Then they arrived at the pet shop, where the store owner, Binna, had collected some rare pets from across the cosmos. The protagonists came here to find good companions for their adventures.
But while they're called pets, they're actually just stuffed toys. Compared to the cute and fluffy toys in the Magic Kingdom, the plush toys here are a bit more awkwardly adorable.
Shiller took a liking to a small monster plush. It looked a bit like the Big Eye character from League of Legends.
Steve looked over and said, "Don't let Stephen see this thing. I heard him say that a monster called Shuma that looks like an eyeball is his mentor's arch-enemy. I guess they should be very similar."
Shiller decisively bought it.