A few days after returning to the Bamboo Staff, Gustave finally revealed the existence of the Gate of All Worlds to the entire Red Hair Pirates crew. He'd mainly done this because he could see Shanks struggling with the burden of keeping such a massive secret from his closest friends.
To celebrate this revelation, Gustave took the entire Red Hair crew on a day-long excursion to the Chinese Ghost Story world, giving them a firsthand glimpse of interdimensional scenery.
The experience had actually gotten Gustave thinking about adding tourism services to his business model. Cross-dimensional travel packages sounded incredibly profitable.
But after some consideration, he'd abandoned the idea entirely. He was already too lazy to run the Bamboo Staff properly - how could he possibly muster the energy to become a tour guide? For someone of Gustave's abilities, making money was a matter of minutes when necessary. There was no point exhausting himself with additional ventures.
On this particular morning, Conan and Ai made their first appearance at the restaurant in quite some time.
"Conan, Ai! What have you two been up to lately? It's been ages since your last visit," Gustave said warmly, bringing each of them a tall glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. The fruit came directly from Nami's orchard and had an exceptionally bright, sweet flavor.
Conan accepted his glass and took an appreciative sip before answering. "It's all because of Haibara. She got shot by the Black Organization, so we've been waiting for her to recover."
"Hehe, hehe!" Ai responded to Conan's complaint with nothing more than soft laughter. Normally she would have fired back with a sharp retort, but considering that Conan had risked his life to rescue her from the organization's clutches, she decided to let his teasing slide this once.
"Ai was injured? What happened?" Gustave asked with immediate concern. He'd watched parts of the Detective Conan series over the years, but there were so many episodes that he'd inevitably skipped around - he didn't know the specific circumstances behind her injury.
"Well, it all started when..." Conan proceeded to explain the entire chain of events.
On their way home from school one day, Ai had spotted Gin's distinctive black Porsche. The two remarkably bold and equally reckless children had broken into the vehicle and planted a listening device, hoping to track down the Black Organization's activities through Gin's movements.
But Gin was far too experienced to fall for such amateur surveillance. He'd immediately discovered their device and used it to feed them false information, claiming the organization was planning an assassination at the Haido Hotel.
Predictably, Conan and Ai had taken the bait completely and rushed to the hotel to investigate.
What followed was Ai getting trapped in the building's basement. Using the cold environment to her advantage, she'd consumed alcohol to temporarily return to her adult form and escaped through a chimney. But before she could celebrate her freedom, Gin had shot her. Fortunately, Conan had arrived just in time, using his voice changer to distract Gin and Vodka long enough for Ai to get away.
After a chaotic series of close calls, the two young detectives had finally escaped with their lives.
"You two are absolutely reckless!" Gustave delivered a firm knock on each of their heads. While Conan's ignorance of danger was understandable given his youth, Ai should have known better than to go along with such a suicidal plan. Without the protagonist's plot armor protecting them, Gin would have eliminated them both without hesitation.
"Ow! That really hurt, Gustave!" Conan rubbed the growing bump on his skull and looked at him reproachfully. Somehow Gustave's disciplinary strikes seemed to hurt even more than Uncle Kogoro's.
"If I don't teach you a lesson now, the Bamboo Staff might lose two customers permanently next time," Gustave replied with an exasperated eye roll.
Recognizing that this wasn't the time to provoke their host further, Ai put on her most innocent expression and said sweetly, "Brother Gustave, we came here to eat!"
"Fine, fine. Come with me and pick out what you want," Gustave sighed, leading them toward the ingredient storage area.
"What's that?" Conan's sharp eyes immediately zeroed in on something hanging in an inconspicuous corner - what appeared to be dark, dried liver suspended from hooks.
"You've got excellent instincts. That liver just finished curing and you've already spotted it," Gustave said, ruffling Conan's hair until it stuck up in all directions.
"Brother Gustave, is it actually edible?" Ai studied the blackened, wind-dried organ with obvious skepticism.
"Of course it's delicious! I spent considerable time preparing this delicacy properly." The liver had been carefully salted, seasoned with herbs, and air-dried for weeks to achieve the perfect texture and concentrated flavor.
"Then I want to try it!" When Conan heard that Gustave had invested significant effort in the preparation, he immediately claimed it as his first dish of the day.
"Kudo..." Ai gave him a pointed look, trying to signal that he should show more restraint, but Conan pretended not to notice.
"It's perfectly fine, Ai. Wind-dried liver is meant to be eaten and shared. Since you're curious about it, I'll cut off a portion for you both to sample." Gustave took a sharp knife and sliced away several ounces of the dark, concentrated meat.
"There we go - one dish down. What else catches your interest?" He wiped his liver-scented hand across Conan's cheek, leaving behind a faint brown smudge that made the boy look like a mischievous cat.
"Gustave, you..." Conan started to protest, but one look at Gustave's warning expression made him reconsider his approach.
"Brother Gustave, I saw something called sweet and sour pork on television recently. Could you make that?" Ai asked diplomatically.
"Are you questioning my culinary abilities? Of course I can make sweet and sour pork!" Sweet and sour pork was hardly an obscure or challenging dish - Gustave could prepare it blindfolded if necessary.
"What about this?" Conan pointed to an unusual plant in the storage area that resembled golden bamboo shoots but with a distinctive white coloration.
"Those are grass sprouts - an extremely rare and specialized vegetable with an exceptional flavor profile. Would you like to try them?" Gustave explained, noting Conan's obvious fascination with the exotic ingredient.
"Definitely! I want to try them!" When Conan heard that grass sprouts were particularly uncommon, he immediately decided this would be his next selection.
"How would you like them prepared?"
"You know I'm hopeless at cooking, so you should decide the preparation method!" Conan scratched his head with a sheepish grin.
"How about simple stir-fried grass sprouts to let their natural flavor shine?"
"Perfect!"
"Kudo, we've already selected three dishes, and there are only two of us. Don't you think that's sufficient?" Ai interjected with practical concern.
"Three dishes already?" Conan hadn't realized how quickly they'd accumulated options. He still wanted to try several more items, but Ai's point was valid - they were still children with limited appetites, and three dishes would provide plenty of variety without waste.
"What about adding soup? Don't you think a meal feels incomplete without soup?" Gustave suggested.
"But..." Ai hesitated, clearly worried about over-ordering.
"You're concerned about leftovers, but I can simply prepare smaller portions for everything!"
"Alright then, let's add soup!" Conan agreed immediately.
Ai couldn't help but roll her eyes at Conan's hasty decision-making without consulting her.
"What type of soup interests you?"
"Brother Gustave, why don't you choose? We're happy with any soup you recommend," Ai quickly took control of the conversation before Conan could make another impulsive selection.
"How about pea tip and tofu soup? Light, clean flavors that won't compete with the other dishes."
"That sounds wonderful! Anything you prepare will be delicious, Brother Gustave!"
"Excellent. Find yourselves a comfortable table while I gather the ingredients and start cooking." Gustave opened the refrigerator, collecting portions appropriate for two young diners, and headed into his kitchen domain where the real magic would begin.