Chapter 2190: The Chosen Themes

The newly arrived dwarves saw the merry-go-round and were eager to ride it. It only had the basic shell done, but they absolutely could be used to test run.

The dwarves gasped a little as they sat down. There were figurines of broats, tigers, horses, and other Terran animals. As always, for things like these, they did not use aggressive monsters lest children think the monsters outside were friendly.

The twirling was slow, but it was relaxing. They also liked it when the seat rose up and went down slowly, as if they were getting carried in a leisurely ride.

At the same time, they also analyzed the machine’s movements.

"It’s so consistent."

"Is no one really driving it?"

"No, it only has a switch. I saw it, ba."

"It doesn’t have arrays at all."

Dwarves could see this at a glance.

It was Taiso who spoke up. "Yes. Here, we can combine arrays but also make things move and work in complex ways without them."

"Eh?"

"How is that?"

The newcomers, the dwarves from the East, had done everything non-manual using arrays. Whether it was the components in their bombs and trebuchets, or their mining carts, all of this made use of arrays; It was why they tended to take so long to finish anything.

"While some things would always require an array, I learned that there are other things that didn’t need them—they just needed to manipulate the natural forces of nature. They called this...science."

Taiso explained to his brethren about all the things he had learned since stepping into Alterra. It hadn’t been long since then, but he knew his growth rate after coming here had already exceeded the earlier half of his life.

"If we can combine those science concepts of Alterra into arrays, what do you think we can make?"

...

Suffice it to say, the dwarves were fascinated. They even volunteered to work and help with the theme park for free.

Of course, Alterra wasn’t into slave labor, so they would definitely pay wages and contribution points.

After signing NDAs and oaths, the dwarves were then made privy to the rest of the planned rides. There were blueprints there, which detailed how they would work.

Except for a few magical rides that were still theoretical at this time, none of the other rides used arrays at all!

Who would’ve thought something so big could rotate indefinitely with just a switch? Who would’ve thought that a giant rocking boat could exist above ground? Who would’ve thought that several people could be lifted super high above the ground and then safely fall down an instant later?

And those conceptual rides that would likely need arrays...the dwarves could tell that this was where they would be most useful.

They could learn so many new concepts while also being given a chance to create something new—the dwarves were all so excited; it was as if they found the meaning of life!

After all, their whole lives, they stayed in that walled cave. The only things they did were bombs or a few traps, just surviving, but without much excitement. They barely even knew what that emotion was.

At the time, that was just their lives, so they didn’t see anything wrong with it. They were also physically disadvantaged compared to other races. The outside world simply didn’t feel like a place where they would survive long-term.

Now, after seeing the wider world, they not only survived (though with some help) but they were exposed to a whole new type of living.

The roller coaster especially excited them the most. Though they hadn’t seen it yet, they could imagine the feeling of riding one.

In fact, some of them had once dreamed their carts back home were faster. As children, it was one of their games or make-believes. The roller coaster seemed to meet that dream to a tee.

Fast, exciting, high!

Three things dwarves did not have and naturally strive for!

As such, without much suspense, the first major ride to be finished some months later was none other than the roller coaster.

...

Another discussion regarding the theme park was the actual theme or overarching appearance.

This had been discussed by the ministers, the construction and design department, and the cultural departments, the latter of which focused more on the spiritual/psychological/sociological effects of building such a mega project like a theme park.

The theme for the theme park naturally couldn’t be too close to reality. A theme park anchored a lot on ’the dream’ and the fantasy.

What would people in a fantasy world find fantastic?

Some ministers suggested interstellar, some ministers suggested underwater kingdoms, and some ministers suggested Terran itself.

All these had some merit because the first two were definitely fantastic in this world, while the latter was extremely nostalgic for Terrans but also extremely novel for the locals.

In the end, they divided the theme park into several sectors or ’worlds’ including those three and more.

One of the sectors popular among the ministers was the Elven World.

At the very least, what people’s concept of them was, similar to how people imagined heaven and hell.

Other people might not dare do this, but Althea and Garan must be some of those who had the right to explore or appropriate these themes. They had also requested copies of several materials related to elves from Naia and Holt City, and the princess had expressed her desire to visit the park once it was done.

They already had some preliminary design ideas, but most were still at their conceptual stages. For example, some rides were based on the floating elves, and some went so fast that they could be likened to teleporting ones.

It seemed there were also elves that could speak and breathe underwater, elves who could summon rain and clouds, elves that could create things seemingly out of nothing, and so on.

Many rides would be inspired by these themes, though actually making the rides was a challenge. Althea was even considering making movies about elves, though sadly, they didn’t know enough material to confidently make ’realistic’ movies about them.

It was sad that these powers were mostly extinct, but they felt it was good to create facilities to remind people that they had once existed.

While it didn’t seem solemn and ’proper’ like temples, elves were not gods, and they had never claimed to be, so adding these themes to people’s direct experience felt no less meaningful than creating temples of worship which they might not appreciate.

Althea, who was away but looking in the park’s direction in deep thought.

Could this count as honoring one’s ancestors?