The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 237: Ruined Picnic

Lane looked at the newcomers, blinked two times...

And then plopped down on the blanket. Removed his mask, and started eating. He was hungry, and the hood was covering part of his face, so it was fine. There was hardly any risk that they could be recognized anyway, the masks were just a security precaution, since Damien was a law-abiding citizen and a public officer, and Lane was about to become one as well. Kind of. At least that second part.

The group stood rooted in place for a good minute, just staring at Lane enjoying his meal, completely dumbfounded. That... was not quite the reaction they were expecting. Now, if they had any functional brain cells in their heads, they would realize that if Lane could just ignore them like that, it probably meant he wasn’t someone to be messed with, as he likely had the power to suppress them all.

Unfortunately for everyone present, the newcomers, or at least their leader, suffered a severe lack of ability in the thinking department, and Lane’s behavior only egged him on.

"Ey!" he called, stomping forward. "You’re ignoring me or what?"

But Lane only continued to eat his sandwich.

"You fucker, I’m talking to you!"

Lane let out a quiet sigh. "Isn’t it obvious?" he asked, giving the man a bored glance. "Are you dumb or what?"

"You!"

SMASH!

Pieces of food and plastic splattered all over, as the dumb man smashed his club into the ground right in front of Lane. It was a comical scene, like from some cliched cartoon, where a random, stupid bully attacks the main character, especially with the man’s choice of weapon. But Lane couldn’t laugh at the ridiculousness of it.

Because the club landed right in the dessert - a strawberry trifle with a lot of whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles on the top. Lane stared at the ruined dessert for a moment, before he fixed his mask back on, and slowly got up.

"There’s more in my spatial bag!" Damien quickly interjected, having a bad feeling about it.

But his words seemed to have reached the wrong person. At the words ’spatial bag’, the ears of all the Forbidden Zone bandits had perked up.

So their targets had proper equipment! What a good stroke of luck!

Only two or three of the group members felt apprehensive and wanted to back out, but as they were low-rankers, they had no say in anything. The dynamics in the Awakened groups were usually dictated by their powers, and the Esper abilities and intelligence didn’t necessarily go hand-in-hand. So, the best they could do was to stay at the back while their fellow group members threw themselves at Damien and Lane...

And good for them, because while Damien only defended himself while trying to avoid hurting anyone, Lane had no such reservations. In a split second, he punched the group leader into oblivion, causing the man to fly high up into the sky, draw an arch over everyone’s heads, and land limply on the ground. He wasn’t dead yet, of course - as if Lane would let him get away so easily after destroying his dessert! - but still. He wasn’t just your average Awakened, but an A-rank Esper! Someone that the rest of the group saw as a true powerhouse!

Naturally, with such a display of strength on Lane’s side, the battle dynamic instantly shifted. All of the group members - aside from another two that were sent flying before they could react - turned back on the spot, and started running back from whence they came, ignoring their fallen comrades who struggled to scramble back onto their feet.

Would it be so easy for them to leave after provoking Lane, though?

Of course not!

"Oh, no, you don’t!" Lane muttered through clenched teeth, raising his hands...

"La... Uh, Xavier, wait!" Damien called, grabbing Lane’s wrist. "Don’t kill them!"

Lane looked over at Damien, feeling wronged. "But they interrupted our date!"

Damien just stared at him blankly in return. Did that truly warrant a death sentence?

Although Lane’s answer to this question would have been a solid ’yes’, he just let out a sigh. "Fine, fine, no killing. But..."

But some punishment had to be enforced. Thus, he waved his hand...

And before the men completely disappeared among the trees, they were all caught in a gooey substance. It was red and semi-transparent, like strawberry jelly, and had the consistency of slime.

"It’s another one of my abilities. It doesn’t have a proper name, so I just call it red slime," Lane explained calmly, as he manipulated the slime, dragging all the bandits back to their picnic site. "It’s not particularly useful, as it doesn’t have any other properties aside from being kind of sticky, so it can only be used as a trap... And it also tastes quite nice. Wanna try?" He waved his hand, creating another small red orb that floated over his hand.

"...Maybe some other time." Damien eyed the slime suspiciously. Not that he thought that Lane would do anything to hurt him, but eating substances created with abilities... ƒгeewёbnovel.com

"Well, alright then." Lane shrugged his shoulders, and clicked his fingers, splitting the orb into tiny drops that fell down, sinking into the ground. Then, he approached the men cluttered together in the red sludge.

"What are you going to do with them?"

"Hmm?" Lane smiled wickedly. And although no one could quite see his expression because of the mask, the bandits still couldn’t help but shudder. "Well, there’s still one more useful ability I haven’t shown you. An A-rank one." Lane bent down, and grabbed one of the men by the chin, lifting his face to meet his eyes. "It’s called Hypnosis. As to what it does..." He drawled his words, activating his ability.

The unfortunate man being held by the chin flinched when he saw the red glow in Lane’s eyes, but just a second later, his eyes went completely blank.

"Beat up your group members. Especially the club guy who destroyed our picnic."

Then, he let go, and repeated the same process with all the other bandits.