Evan had already considered making a deal with Stark, information in exchange for robots.
The main problem was that he was the restaurant’s only employee.
Once the Dimensional Door connected to more worlds and the number of customers increased, there was absolutely no way he would be able to handle everything by himself.
But he couldn’t simply hire just anyone as a server or chef.
First came character.
Second came strength.
Someone with questionable morals could easily cause trouble.
And if a server wasn’t strong enough, they might not even be able to enter the Ranch or Farm to retrieve certain ingredients.
The same applied to chefs.
If they weren’t strong enough to even cut the ingredients, how were they supposed to cook them?
Unfortunately, finding someone who was trustworthy, powerful, and willing to work in a restaurant was easier said than done.
So Evan had decided on a backup plan.
Until he found suitable employees, he would use intelligent robots as servers and chefs instead.
At first, he’d considered using GT Robots from the Gourmet World.
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[The More You Know]
GT Robots (Gourmet Telexistence Robots) are special machines from Toriko that can be controlled remotely by a person.
They are designed to explore dangerous places and collect rare ingredients without putting the operator’s real body at risk.
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GT Robots had been specifically developed to capture gourmet ingredients.
They were not only powerful but also capable of extremely precise movements.
Unfortunately, they had two major problems.
They were ugly as hell.
And they required a human operator rather than being capable of autonomous action.
So that idea was out.
Then Stark happened to walk into the restaurant.
Naturally, Evan’s attention shifted straight to him.
Helping Tony wipe out the terrorists earlier had served two purposes.
One was to make money off him.
The other was to establish a relationship with Tony Stark.
After all, if you were on good terms with Tony, he’d put a lot more effort into helping you.
“Robots?” Tony tapped an index finger against his furrowed brow.
His expression turned serious.
“Give me the specifications.”
“First, humanoid. It needs to be capable of any movement a human can perform. Doesn’t have to be especially tall, average human height is fine.”
Evan began counting off the requirements.
“It needs considerable strength and load bearing capacity because I’ll need it to move some extremely heavy ingredients and equipment.”
“As for cooking ability, I’m not asking for much. Michelin three-star chef level will do.”
Tony’s expression froze.
“Oh, right!” Evan became increasingly animated.
“You can use this as a visual reference.”
From seemingly nowhere, he produced a picture.
It depicted a robotic maid from some Japanese anime.
The longer Evan talked, the stiffer Tony’s expression became.
Pepper and Yinsen’s eyes grew wider with every new requirement.
Then Evan pulled out the maid robot picture.
Tony finally snapped.
He grabbed the table and tried to flip it.
Or rather—
He attempted to flip it.
The table didn’t budge.
Still, the murderous intent behind the gesture came across perfectly clearly.
“Tony. Tony, calm down.” Pepper patted him on the chest, trying to soothe him.
Tony drew in a long breath.
Then exhaled.
“I am giving you exactly one chance to rephrase that.” He enunciated each word.
“Stop. Joking.”
But I wasn’t joking.
Evan desperately wanted to say it.
Unfortunately, Tony currently looked like a rabid dog one insult away from lunging across the table.
So Evan wisely swallowed the words and reconsidered his requirements.
“Intelligent. Highly precise. Strong. Highly dexterous. Cooking ability no lower than a Michelin one-star chef. Humanoid. And it can’t look horrifying.”
Evan gritted his teeth.
It physically hurt to lower his standards this far.
Tony stared at him.
“Why do I feel like you barely lowered anything?”
At this point, he couldn’t even summon the energy to get angry.
Pepper stepped in to explain.
“Mr. Whitaker, with present day technology, no one can manufacture the kind of robot you’re describing—”
“Tony can’t either?” Evan interrupted before she could finish.
“Not in the short term.”
Now that he’d calmed down and the conversation had shifted into his area of expertise, Tony became completely serious.
He mentally ran through the requirements, simulating the engineering problems involved.
After a moment, he gave a rough estimate.
“About three years.”
Evan blinked.
“And that’s assuming I don’t work on anything else,” Tony continued.
“I’d have to devote myself entirely to this project if you want everything you just listed.”
“…”
Yinsen opened his mouth.
Then closed it again.
He had originally intended to help convince Evan that his expectations were ridiculous.
After hearing Tony’s answer, however, only one thought remained.
Tony is ridiculous.
“In that case…” Evan thought for a moment.
“What if I give you a robot that already meets every requirement except appearance, intelligence, and cooking ability?”
He recalled roughly when J.A.R.V.I.S. controlled Iron Man suits would begin appearing in organized formations.
Four or five years from now, give or take.
If Tony dropped everything else and focused entirely on the project, reducing that to three years wasn’t unreasonable.
Still, Evan wasn’t satisfied.
Which brought the GT Robots back to mind.
“You have something like that?” Tony’s face practically screamed disbelief.
Tony Stark, the greatest scientist of the modern age, hadn’t built something like that yet.
Someone else had?
Then he stopped.
Actually…
Maybe Evan really did.
Tony still hadn’t completely accepted everything about the Dimensional Restaurant, but the place apparently connected to entirely different worlds.
His own world might not possess that technology.
But another world?
That was entirely possible.
“I do.” Evan nodded.
Strictly speaking, he didn’t have one right now.
But he could ask Ichiryu for a favor.
Getting a few GT Robots should be absurdly easy for someone on Ichiryu or Jiro’s level.
Tony went silent for a moment.
“If you can actually produce one, then yes, I can shorten the development time.” He raised a finger.
“But I can’t tell you by how much until I’ve examined the machine you’re providing.”
“Okay.” Evan nodded readily. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Science required precision.
Tony hadn’t seen the actual hardware, so refusing to make wild promises was perfectly reasonable.
“Then we have a deal?”
“Absolutely.”
“In that case, I’ll give you the information now.” Evan leaned back.
“Wouldn’t want you dropping dead before I manage to bring you the robot.”
Tony’s face darkened.
Ignoring him, Evan somehow produced a palm sized slip of white paper and handed it over.
“This is extremely valuable intelligence that I spent a tremendous amount of time gathering. Guaranteed authentic.”
Yes.
A tremendous amount of time.
He had written it while squeezing in a few spare moments during cooking earlier.
And technically, it had been gathered from somewhere.
From a movie he’d watched in another world.
That made it intelligence from across universes.
Practically priceless.
“Ohhh. Is that right?” Tony’s tone made it clear how seriously he took that claim.
Anyone could say something was valuable intelligence.
Who knew whether Evan was telling the truth?
But the instant Tony took the paper and read what was written on it—
His fingers clenched.
The sheet crumpled into a ball.
His expression turned ice cold.
“You’re sure this is true?”
There was nothing casual in his voice anymore.
“You’re not screwing with me?”
“It’s true.” This time, Evan was the one who sounded unconcerned.
“I have no reason to lie to you.”
“Good.” Tony rose, his face grim.
“Call me when you have the robot.”
Then he turned and walked out without another word.
Pepper and Yinsen exchanged a glance.
Yinsen gave Pepper a subtle look.
She immediately understood and hurried after Tony.
Yinsen, meanwhile, picked up the briefcase Pepper had brought inside earlier.
“This covers the meals from both visits.”
With that, he headed after the other two.
Once the three of them disappeared into the distance, Evan shrugged.
He dragged the briefcase in front of himself and opened it.
Stacks upon stacks of hundred dollar bills greeted him.
Benjamin Franklin’s face seemed to shine with the sacred radiance of money.
Evan’s eyes nearly dazzled.
Then—
A crisp chime sounded inside his mind.
Lines of text appeared one after another.
[World-Specific Mission: Earn Money, Completed.]
[Mission reward being distributed…]
[New world connected…]
[New World-Specific Mission issued…]
[Special Mission issued…]
[World-Specific Mission: Earn Money (0/2,000,000)]
[Mission Reward: Dimensional Door connection to a new world.]
[Special Mission: Explore the new world and discover new ingredients.]
[Mission Reward: Unknown, determined by the quantity of new ingredients discovered.]