The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 233: Migrants

The four-hour drive left Damien with permanent ear damage. It must have had, otherwise there was no other explanation as to why at the end of it, he had already started to think that Lane’s howling didn’t sound all that bad.

But that was alright. It was better to get used to this screeching early on, if they were to stay together in the future. At least he wouldn’t suffer during their trips together, as the chances of Lane’s singing voice ever improving seemed... bleak, to put it nicely.

This questionable quality performance had to come to an end shortly after 1 AM, though, when the towering walls of Forbidden Zone No. 183 sprang up on the horizon, dark and menacing even from a distance. Lane’s mouth finally shut, and he even turned off the music completely. Only the humming of the engine was left to accompany them as they sped ahead.

As they arrived at a turn they needed to take to get to the tunnel leading to the gate, Lane pulled over on the side of the road.

"Put this on," he said, handing Damien a special mask covering most of his face and a black jacket with a hood. Although they still had about five miles to go, circling around the walls to reach the tunnel, now that they were near the Zone, they had to be careful to hide their identities. There could be people camping around, hoping to get into the Zone. With no guards at the gate, and the code near impossible to obtain for most, prospective ’migrants’ had to frequently wait around for delivery men to arrive and open the gates, letting them in...

Or give up and look for a different Forbidden Zone.

Either way, there was a risk of being spotted, so they needed to be prepared. Lane also put on a mask himself and pulled on the hood, hiding his pastel pink hair, and got out of the car to remove the license plates, hiding them in his spatial bag.

Only once they were both covered up and impossible to recognize, did he start the car again.

And as they got close, there was indeed someone waiting. Just one person, in an old pickup truck, who instantly started the car the moment Lane and Damien approached, and followed them into the tunnel.

Or, well, two people, as it turned out, because a moment later, Lane noticed one more head popping up from underneath the tarp.

"Someone is following us," Damien pointed out.

"Yes, I know," Lane nodded his head.

"And that’s... alright?"

Lane shrugged his shoulders in response. "I don’t know. We’ll find out."

Things could go different ways. If they were just regular ’migrants’, and had any functional brain cells, they would just quietly enter the Zone after Lane punched in the code. Because just knowing the code should let them know Lane was no ordinary person, and should not be provoked. But in case they had any other intentions...

Lane’s grey eyes flashed with azure, as he stopped the car in front of the gate and turned his head back to check the people in the pickup. Just civilians, although one on the verge of awakening. Then, there was practically no risk they would even attempt to attack.

"Your eyes..." Damien blinked, staring straight at Lane.

"Hmm?" Lane shifted his gaze, a small smile emerging on his lips as he met Damien’s emerald eyes. "You like it? I have other colors as well."

"...I prefer your real eye color."

"Hahah, is that so?" Lane’s eyes curved into crescents, and the azure glow faded as he unfastened his belt, and leaned closer to Damien. "Well, I like yours as well..." he whispered, slid down his mask, and grabbed Damien’s nape, quickly getting Damien’s mask out of the way before pulling the man into a kiss.

Meanwhile, in the car behind them, the two civilians were in the middle of a discussion, almost as heated as Lane and Damien’s kiss.

"Should we go ask them?"

"I don’t know, maybe they also don’t know the code?"

"I don’t know, they look loaded, so maybe they bought it somewhere?"

"Then why are they just standing there?"

"How am I supposed to know? Should we go ask them?"

"But they look like they might be Espers..."

"So what? You chicken up now?"

"No, it’s just that I don’t want to provoke them... You go if you want to."

"Why me? It was your idea to come here in the first place."

"But you also wanted to! And I don’t mind waiting."

"We’ve already been waiting almost a week. We’re running out of food."

"So what! We can just make a trip to the nearest town or something!"

"And miss when the delivery comes? No way! Ugh, fine, I’ll go!"

The driver got out of the pickup, slamming the door, and marched toward Lane’s car.

Only to make a U-turn the moment he got close enough to see what was happening inside the car.

"What? You’re back already? What did you-"

"Just shut up. It doesn’t look... like a good moment." The driver quickly got back in, and stepped on the back pedal, driving all the way back to the tunnel’s entrance. From there, they could still see the gate, as the tunnel was nowhere as long as in Forbidden Zone No. 74, but at least he was a somewhat safe distance away, giving the potentially powerful Awakened some privacy. It wouldn’t do them any good to remain trapped in the tunnel, and potentially witness something they shouldn’t...

Back in the car, Lane pulled back from the kiss, chuckling softly when he saw how red Damien’s face was. They both had heard the whole exchange, and Damien, prudent as he was, was naturally embarrassed being caught in the middle of a passionate make-out session...

"Keep your mask up," Lane advised, as if he wasn’t the one who pulled it down in the first place. "There are cameras at the gate."

Of course, he could easily have any footage it caught removed, but it would be a bit hard to explain it to Damien, so he didn’t let the man know. He just fixed his own mask into place, and got out to enter the passcode and open the gates.