It's Actually Not Easy Wanting to be a Supporting Male Lead

Translated by Eve

Edited by Karasunofight

"You’re sure that you want to use this method? Isn’t it too dangerous?" Sui Yuan rested his chin on one hand, his eyebrows furrowed together as he rejected the plan, "Voluntarily exposing your identity in the enemy’s territory...that’s simply seeking death!"

"Aside from this, do we have any other effective plans?" On the other side, Zhao Xihe looked rather helpless, "The guide named Iressa is too on-guard. There’s no chance for me to approach. If I act recklessly and directly do something to him, he’ll likely escape and then come back with backup, biting me in return. Right now, he’s in a more advantageous position. The longer we drag this on, the more disadvantageous this is for us. Since it’s like this, we might as well destroy his position, and then seize the advantage."

"So, you plan on exposing your identity to make him attack you. Then, you’ll be the ’victim’ and make the public condemn him, taking away the protection he is currently under?" Sui Yuan shook his head, "However, you’re a space pirate! No one would criticize a well-respected guide for the sake of a space pirate!"

"I am a ’former’ space pirate. I have recently mended my ways and even cooperated with the military," Zhao Xihe shrugged, retorting, "Moreover, the most important part is that I am just a guide, a guide who is still a minor."

Seeing how confident Zhao Xihe was, Sui Yuan probably knew that he had no chance in changing the other’s mind. He couldn’t help but regret having sent the other to the Guide Academy. Sui Yuan originally planned on first confirming the Destroyer’s identity before bringing Zhao Xihe back. They would then carefully draw up a plan before acting. He never expected that Zhao Xihe would unexpectedly have such great courage to directly move against the Destroyer. Even if the Destroyer could not kill Zhao Xihe now, he definitely would not let Zhao Xihe off lightly.

"...Then, what should I do?" Sui Yuan sucked in a breath, speaking slowly. Since he couldn’t stop him, he could only do his best to help the other so that he wouldn’t drag the other down.

"What you have to do..." Zhao Xihe rubbed his chin, the corners of his lips pulling into a smile, "I’ll let 0007 incite the public to support me. If 5237 can help, then the odds of success will be even higher. Of course, to shake off the space pirates’ bad reputation and attack the military for their recent extermination of the space pirates is also not bad."

"...Can the space pirates’ reputation still be saved? Isn’t it only logical for the military to exterminate the space pirates? Can we really criticize them on this point?" Sui Yuan frowned, not understanding.

"There is a reason for the existence of everything. Space pirates do indeed rob others, but sometimes, they will do good things. For example, the ’Robin Hoods’ from other worlds— the ones who rob the rich and help the poor. Clearly, they’re still robbing people, but because they’ve done a charitable deed, they are loved, protected, and discussed enthusiastically by those in the lowest rungs of society, no? Therefore, so long as the method is proper, nothing’s bad reputation cannot be washed clean, even if it was never clean in the first place."

Zhao Xihe lazily smiled. His originally clear and limpid eyes were completely dark, full of the trickery of a treacherous person. It’s likely that no matter who looked at him, they would not be able to connect his current appearance with that of the original soft and cute immature guide.

"So, I can announce that the pirates use the wealth that they plunder to do good deeds. I’ll also expose some governmental officials who have been taking bribes, how they’ve been exploiting the people’s tax money. With the two of these contrasting one another, I should be able to incite the anger of the masses who don’t know about the particulars," Sui Yuan’s eyes lit up, and he immediately understood, "I can do that, no problem. However, I can’t guarantee that it will be so easy to instigate the people."

"Only those with weaknesses are susceptible. So long as there is a small crack, we can make things extremely terrible," Zhao Xihe pressed his index finger against his lips, smile ambiguous, "The Federation’s government and the Guide Academy have countless shady affairs affiliated with them. Even if we don’t embellish anything, this matter will not be easily ignored by the people. What we need to do is just...be practical and realistic."

Sui Yuan: "...I don’t know why but I want to light a candle for them, ne...."

After ending his call with Zhao Xihe, Sui Yuan folded his arms and began to ponder over how to go about ridding the space pirates of their bad reputation.

The Germain Space Pirates had done many bad things. However, because of Nova, the little angel who was the protagonist shou, and Germain who was proud by nature, he had felt it too beneath him to make trouble for the common people. Furthermore, because quite a few of the space pirates came from modest backgrounds, when they had energy to spare, he would even lend the common folks a hand.

However, it was not enough to rid the Germain Space Pirates of their bad reputation. Sui Yuan had to at least gather a couple of other crews who had decent reputations with him. Only then would they be able to forcibly change the image that space pirates had in the eyes of the masses.

Sui Yuan tapped his fingers against the desk, locking onto a few space pirate crews that had appeared in the plot and seemed alright as important targets. Afterwards, he called in his intelligence officer and handed the task over to him.

Since the Commander-daren wanted it, although he didn’t understand the situation, the intelligence officer led the space pirates into decisive action without asking any questions. They very quickly brought their boss the information that he wanted.

Of course, aside from the space pirates’ contributions, 5237 also invaded the Star Network, plundering quite a bit of material. Sui Yuan combined the two wealths of information together, sifted what was true from what was fake news, found a good model to follow, and thus very rapidly synthesized a good way to wash clean their reputation. At the same time, Zhao Xihe also wasn’t idling around on his side. He was pretending to test Iressa, just for show, while also taking the chance to befriend some "like-minded" guides. These guides had all recently entered the Guide Academy and had yet to become fully brainwashed. On the contrary, they still had a naive desire for freedom and independence and were hiding that fiery resistance beneath their subservient exteriors.

If three people say that there is a tiger in the market, then people will believe it to be true. Although one person’s voice is not loud enough and can be easily ignored or doubted, so long as there are enough people, the rest of the audience will easily begin to waver. Only then will they listen earnestly and begin to ponder over it.

It wasn’t hard for Zhao Xihe to find like-minded friends. In any case, he had a strategy guide in his hand. All of the guides who got along relatively well with Nova in the original plot were snatched up by him, leaving none behind. Of course, Zhao Xihe finding so many "alliance members" so quickly naturally attracted Iressa’s attraction. It was only to be expected that to Iressa, Zhao Xihe had "revealed" himself.

Sui Yuan and Zhao Xihe’s plan went as planned. Only, they had yet to act when One-Eyed seemed to catch the scent of their plan and rushed over.

At this time, Sui Yuan was tired of looking at the data and was bent over his desk, taking a break. The sunlight spilled onto his white, jade-like face, illuminating his profile, causing One-Eyed, who was suspicious and angry, to feel his breath catch in his throat. The fiery anger in him instantly disappeared.

His steps subconsciously softened. One-Eyed slowly reached out. It was just a pity that before he could touch the other’s skin, his hand was tightly clenched by cold, slender fingers.

Sui Yuan opened his eyes that held no trace of sleepiness, raising an eyebrow, "What are you doing?"

One-Eyed curved his lips into a smile without any shame from having been being caught. Instead, he took advantage of the situation to hold Sui Yuan’s fingers. He then lowered his head, wanting to place a kiss on them. Regretfully, the other was not a person who was easy to get along with. Sui Yuan directly snorted and mercilessly pulled his fingers away. He even pulled out a handkerchief and calmly wiped his hands with a look of distaste.

One-Eyed’s lips pulled into another smile. He turned and directly sat on the desk in front of Sui Yuan, arms crossed while side-eyeing the other in disdain, "What have you been up to lately? You unexpectedly sent people out to dig into my crew’s financial situation?!"

"They were discovered by you?" Sui Yuan was a bit astonished but remained calm, "It seems that your subordinates are perceptive."

"Of course! Look at who taught them!" One-Eyed raised his chin, evidently proud. Soon after, he suddenly realized that the other had turned the topic askew, "Don’t try to change the subject! Tell me, what do you mean by doing this? If you don’t tell me, I might fall out with you. Don’t even think of us staying friends in the future!"

——Although the beauty was important, his own crew was evidently much more important to him. One-Eyed absolutely would not let this man with bewitching beauty confuse him. Rather, he was very clear-minded. So long as he had strength, he would be able to attain the beauty.

Although Sui Yuan did not actually consider One-Eyed to be his friend, he also did not want to fall out with the other at this critical point in time. He might as well let One-Eyed in on his plan.

One-Eyed furrowed his brows. He picked up the plan document and read it. At first, he read it very carefully. For the latter half, he skimmed it quickly. His expression became more and more incredulous. After finishing it, he raised his head. The gaze he used to look at Sui Yuan was what one would use to look at a foolish madman.

"What are you doing? Getting rid of the space pirates’ bad reputation, dirtying the Guide Academy’s...are you planning on provoking the Federation’s government?!" One-Eyed endured and endured, only then was he able to restrain himself from throwing the document at the other’s face, "Have you gone insane?! Are you doing this to save your little, pitiful guide who they captured?! Don’t be stupid! How could the Guide Academy let him off so easily?! Even those law-abiding guides have no choice, don’t even think about him being able to with his space pirate identity! The only people who have a chance are those with the privilege of being a high-class aristocrat!"

Sui Yuan looked away, impatient, "I naturally know about this. I also have not become muddle-headed over my desire to save Hill. I am very clear on what I am doing. Do you not know what kind of person I am?"

Sui Yuan’s cold and calm voice extinguished the fire that had erupted inside of One-Eyed. One-Eyed paused, expression a bit embarrassed.

One-Eyed naturally knew what kind of person Sui Yuan—or rather, Germain was. Because he coveted the other’s beauty, he had lost to Germain several times. He even saw him as the only person who could rival him. Thus, when he received the news about the "cash cow," the first thing he thought of was to ally with Germain.

From One-Eyed’s point-of-view, Germain was eternally rational and cool-headed. He was never affected by any external factor. Even when he nearly fell apart from losing his guide, he did not let any of that show on the outside. It was also because of this that One-Eyed had felt so angry and why he didn’t understand what Germain was doing now. It had felt as if the unsullied god he had always admired and longed for had descended from his godly altar to tread on mud for the sake of an ordinary fellow. It made people feel distressed and unresigned, lighting the fire of jealousy within them.

"...Then, just what the heck are you trying to do?" After calming down, One-Eyed finally could look over Sui Yuan’s plan without any prejudice. Only, he still didn’t understand why the other was doing this.

The corner of Sui Yuan’s lips rose in a small smile, "Sorry, for now, I can’t tell you. The only question is whether you are willing for the One-Eyed Space Pirates’ deeds to come to light?"

One-Eyed became absent-minded after being flashed with the other’s faint smile. His thoughts became muddled. Fortunately, he still understood what the other was asking. Anyway, this question was no big deal. First of all, One-Eyed trusted Germain. Secondly, he didn’t care about anything but his own crew. Thirdly, he especially wanted to know why the other was doing this. Of course, it was also partly because he couldn’t resist the beauty asking him a question with a smile.

"Of course, if you want to expose it, then do it, ba. I never thought that I would ever be considered a good person in my entire life!" One-Eyed shrugged, responding without a care.

"Speaking of which, I never thought that you would unexpectedly donate to an orphanage?" Sui Yuan relaxed after hearing his reply. He was even in the mood to leisurely chat with this fellow space pirate, who was not quite friend nor foe, "I thought that you would spend all of your money on debauchery and arms!"

"Beauty, you’ve misunderstood me," One-Eyed felt overwhelmed with favour, getting this rare chance to happily "chat" with the other, "Without a doubt, I have to spend money on our weapons, but I’ve never indulged in debauchery. Although I’m not so serious as to be as dull as you, my foresight is rather great. Only someone as stunning as you could enter my eye. What’s this called? Speak not of lakes and streams to one who once has seen the sea?"

Sui Yuan, who was inexplicably dallied with again, ".............................."

"...Alright, since the matter has been settled, you can leave," Sui Yuan rescinded his gentle attitude and gave One-Eyed a cold glance, abandoning the other after having achieved his goal as if this was the logical course of events.

One-Eyed was also very used to being treated like this. He did not take Sui Yuan’s action of expelling him to heart. He went back to the previous topic without caring about the other’s opinion, "As for the donation to the orphanage, it’s probably just me giving back to those who helped me? I grew up there. Although it was a terrible life, at least I lived. Now that I’m making money, whenever I have some surplus, I’ll anonymously make a donation so that I can help those little brats who are how I once was, struggling to live," Taking a pause, One-Eyed smiled, "Perhaps, ten years later, another majestic space pirate might come from this orphanage. Then, I’ll have a qualified successor!"

Sui Yuan: ".............................."

——Hehe, your donations are for the sake of raising future space pirates. He should really pretend he didn’t hear that, ba. That absolutely could not be made public!

After brazenly making a buffoon out of himself by Sui Yuan’s side, when One-Eyed saw that the other had become very impatient, he reluctantly quit while ahead despite wanting to continue. He then left to go meet with his subordinates who had come with him, looking back every few steps, reluctant at the idea of parting.

When he was out of Sui Yuan’s sight, One-Eyed’s face suddenly darkened. A profound expression flickered through his single remaining eye.

He thought that if Germain, who was both his good friend and the one he liked, hadn’t gone mad from having his guide taken away, then that meant he was planning something big. One-Eyed had a faint conjecture, but bold as he may be, even he did not dare think too deeply about this guess.

Germain’s goal was not as simple as just rescuing his guide. He was aiming at the Guide Academy, even the entire Federation. But, could this really be possible? To fight against the entire world with the strength of a puny space pirate crew, even the maddest of men would not dare do this, ba? However, since Germain was the one attempting this, there was a persuasive magic that seemed to come over him. It made him involuntarily want to believe. It made him want to follow the other.

——Was this the magic of an angel or that of the devil?

One-Eyed was a bit afraid and uneasy. However, his innate daredevil nature and love of challenges made him restless. With a frenzied hoot, he decided to step aboard.

——To topple the world alongside a beauty, the thought of it was so romantic and moving, ah! It made people unable to control themselves!

...As for the beauty’s guide? Who’s that? Who cares about him! ╮(╯▽╰)╭