Translated by Eve

　　Edited by Karasunofight

　　Thank you so much to San Xiaojie for the kofi ? Happy New Years to you too and may your year be full of joy and blessings . Happy New Years to all my beloved readers as well! I hope that the start of the new decade brings you all fulfilled wishes and happiness!

　　While Sui Yuan was worrying over how to uncover the Destroyer's true ident.i.ty, the protagonist shou, Nova, was secretly bringing his future sentinel gong to his temporary resting area, taking care of him until the other's wounds healed.

　　After all, Nova knew that the military was recently on high alert to capture all of the s.p.a.ce pirates. Thus, he didn't dare reveal his ident.i.ty. He also did not dare inform the other pirates that he had saved a person of unknown origin. Only, how could he possibly be able to hide his actions from the extremely agile s.p.a.ce pirates who had been personally taught by Sui Yuan? Nova was naturally found out very quickly, and the information was presented before Sui Yuan.

　　This was simply a great aid to him in his time of need. Just when he was planning to sleep, someone sent him a pillow, ah! Sui Yuan's eyes suddenly lit up as he immediately thought of a good idea.

　　After observing the military, Sui Yuan had already s.h.i.+fted his suspicion from the military's upper management to the guides by said upper management's side.

　　After all, the Federation was different from an empire. There absolutely was not a lone executive who could decide everything on his own. The extermination of s.p.a.ce pirates would definitely cost a great deal of resources and manpower. Furthermore, there was the possibility that the pirates would bite back when cornered, which would lead to societal unrest. Even if one or two people felt like they had lost face and wanted to act on a moment of impulse, there would still be calmer, more rational people who would stop them. Moreover, the ending should be like what was outlined in the plot: in which only Germain and One-Eyed's crews, these fellows who had been seeking death, were killed as an example. It shouldn't be like what was happening now with the military attacking all s.p.a.ce pirate crews without any misgivings.

　　If something unusual occurred, then it must be due to some unforeseen event. The Federation issued the order to exterminate all s.p.a.ce pirates so quickly without facing any obstructions. This meant that the person who was behind this already controlled quite a number of officers in the Federation's government. With this in mind, Sui Yuan borrowed 5237's help to invade the Federation's encrypted star network and try to find some clues. In the end, he was finally able to eliminate all sorts of suspects and ended up placing his suspicions on the guides of a few high-level officers.

　　These officers all came from different places and familial backgrounds. Some of them were involved in shady deals while others were upright. These officers actually didn't have the same interests. The only thing that seemed to link them together was that they all had an 'outstanding' guide who had come from the Guide Academy.

　　After locking onto these guides, 5237 gave Sui Yuan a pleasant surprise—it had discovered a fuzzy recording from a surveillance tape from who-knows-what corner of the web. In the recording, Sui Yuan discovered that although the guides by the officers' sides seemed indifferent, each and every one of their actions were directed towards egging on their sentinels' aggression, driving them to their mutual decision of annihilating the pirates.

　　It was rare for there to be multiple Destroyers in the same world, aside from a world like the last, in which an Actor became a Destroyer. Thus, these suspicious guides probably weren't the Destroyer. Instead, they were likely 'puppets' controlled by the Destroyer, who laid behind the scenes. Thus, the Destroyer's ident.i.ty must be someone who the guides were very willing to listen to, so much that they were even willing to scheme and trick their own sentinels, ne?

　　Sui Yuan thought that the Destroyer was most likely within the Guide Academy. After all, these guides had all graduated from there. Furthermore, the Academy knew how to brainwash their students, how to turn guides who originally yearned for freedom into obedient tools that could be manipulated.

　　Sui Yuan thus planned to send someone to infiltrate the Guide Academy to test his hypothesis.

　　"…Hey, what's with your expression? What the heck are you planning, ne?" Zhao Xihe, who had been training his spiritual force off to the side, suddenly felt his hairs stand on edge and quickly turned to shoot a glance in Sui Yuan's direction.

　　Sui Yuan blinked and then told the other of his inferences. After, he looked at Zhao Xihe with a gaze of trust, "Then, I'll be troubling you."

　　"…Troubling me with what?" Zhao Xihe felt rather helpless, "You're not planning on sending me to the Guide Academy, ba? I'm a s.p.a.ce pirate! Even if I want to go, who'd dare let me in?"

　　"If you voluntarily go, then the Guide Academy definitely would not dare take you. However, what if it's against your will?" Sui Yuan shrugged his shoulders happily, reaching out to flip open the doc.u.ment that his intelligence officer had just sent, "There's a good opportunity here for you to grab hold of, for you to be 'unwillingly' sent to the Guide Academy."

　　Zhao Xihe had no choice but to grab the doc.u.ment and scan it. Immediately, he understood, "You want to use Erick…and the military?"

　　Sui Yuan nodded calmly, "Erick's ident.i.ty is not low. He encountered danger and went missing unexpectedly. The military will definitely dispatch a search team. Furthermore, Nova, who is by his side, is also a s.p.a.ce pirate. Get in touch with them using your status as Nova's friend. Then, I'll find an opportunity to divulge your ident.i.ty to the military, move Nova away from the danger, and then, you can be involuntarily s.n.a.t.c.hed by the military!"

　　Seeing that his own lover was digging pits for him so happily without feeling any pressure, Zhao Xihe really wanted to light a candle for himself, "Aren't you afraid that I'll be tortured by the military and be forced to tell them about Germain's s.p.a.ce Pirates' whereabouts?"

　　"I trust that you will be able to easily deal with this trifle," Sui Yuan was not at all worried about Zhao Xihe. If Zhao Xihe didn't go tormenting other people, then that was something to be profusely grateful for. How could anyone else manage to torment Zhao Xihe?!