If the title had ended with an exclamation mark or a question mark, it would inevitably have seemed like clickbait. But somehow, ending it with a period lent it the chilly air of a simple statement of fact.
For a moment, the bridge, which had been brimming with high spirits, fell quiet and glum.
The news had actually broken the day before yesterday, yet it remained the hottest topic across the entire galactic network. Forty hours earlier, on the morning of September 1, 834 of the Common Era, Blue Star Commonwealth Vice President Yero had announced to the universe that, since President Keith Nishita, the nation's lawful head of state, was no longer able to fulfill his duties, he was formally assuming the presidency of the Blue Star Commonwealth in accordance with its constitution.
He then, in his capacity as president of the Blue Star Commonwealth, announced an unconditional surrender to King Brunhild of the Sulucas and ordered all Commonwealth armed forces—including the space fleet, marines, local garrisons, militia, and various autonomous security organizations—to cease all hostilities against the Imperial Army.
"What do they mean, 'unable to fulfill his duties'? Wasn't he assassinated? A hundred million people across the universe saw him get shot! He fell!"
"Then he must have been killed by an Earth traitor?"
"...Uh, some people are saying the man who got shot was a double. The real one had already fled, but then they lost contact with him."
Yu Lian heard this and couldn't help thinking that it sounded more like the truth.
"No, no, that's obviously just a rumor spread by Earth traitors! He must have been killed by that old monster Mao!"
"If you ask me, President Nishita was good in every way except that he was too softhearted. He shouldn't have tried to