Confrontation

"Unbelievable..."

In the office of the Second Executive Office of the Imperial Capital Branch of the Gefra Empire's Ministry of Internal Security, Lin Qi stared at the materials in his hands in disbelief.

His expression truly conveyed enough grief and shock, as if... No, it really did.

That was his most genuine thought at that moment.

He put the materials in his hands back on the desk, crossed his legs, and lit a cigarette.

Most of the time, Lin Qi did not smoke because he needed nicotine to promote Dopamine secretion. What he needed was merely a small prop that could divert other people's attention at any time and in any place.

A cigarette, a pen, or a nail clipper would all work. But compared with the latter two, people were less wary of cigarettes, making them more convenient to use.

Speaking of which, it was quite strange. Most people paid little attention to the cigarette in the hands of the person sitting across from them. Much of the time, they ignored it entirely during the conversation.

But if ash fell onto the floor, or onto a document, or if the smoker stubbed the cigarette out in an Ashtray... people's attention would inexplicably be diverted, even if only for one or two seconds.

But diverted it was. People would think, That bastard dropped ash on my carpet, or, Doesn't he know he's supposed to pay attention to his ashes? Then, in the end, He finally finished. I was almost sick of it.

These little tricks could sometimes play a crucial role. When people's attention was distracted, they would produce an almost instinctive stress response.

Everyone had this reaction, but after some people underwent training, reason would suppress it. Only when their attention was diverted would instinct regain the upper hand.