All three of them felt utterly hopeless.

They wished someone would come save them.

But none of them could think of who might rescue them? Who could possibly save them?

Bang!

At that moment, the door suddenly opened.

Without even looking up, Xiao Q and the other two knew it was Su Mi entering.

Su Mi came every noon to pour dog food and water for them, ensuring they wouldn't die of thirst or starvation.

Beyond that, she took no other actions.

Xiao Q thought Su Mi was a master.

A master at boiling frogs alive slowly.

Had Su Mi used extreme methods from the start, trying to train them into dog-men like those creatures, they would have resisted fiercely.

It was uncertain whether they could truly be transformed into dog-men, and even if successful, it would require tremendous time and effort.

Not worth it.

But now?

After simply imprisoning them for some time, wasn't their current lifestyle already quite dog-like?

Before this, Xiao Q would have sworn he could never be trained into a dog.

He had full confidence in himself, firmly believing he was human.

But now, he wasn't so sure anymore. He couldn't trust himself.

He truly feared his mind was trending toward collapse, his psychological defenses gradually being broken down.

He feared he might not withstand Su Mi's next moves and actually be trained into a dog.

"Sister, could you give us some toilet paper? We're not asking for anything else, just some toilet paper to wipe ourselves after using the bathroom."

After Su Mi had poured fresh dog food and water for the three men, Xiao Peng quickly made his request as she was about to leave.

Xiao Peng was extremely obedient before Su Mi now, probably from being beaten some time ago, not daring to mouth off anymore.

Su Mi smiled faintly: "Toilet paper? You're not humans, why would you need toilet paper?"

"When have you ever seen a dog use toilet paper after pooping?"

Xiao Peng was left speechless.

Ke Bei chimed in from the side: "Then could you open the window? It stinks too much in here."

Su Mi shook her head: "No can do. Opening it would ruin the soundproofing."

Xiao Q sat up and said: "Then give us more water!"

Su Mi looked puzzled: "Why? Isn't the water I give you enough to drink?"

Xiao Q: "We want to take a bath. Look, dogs can take baths, right? Don't pet dogs get taken to pet shops regularly by their owners for baths?"

Xiao Q was still the clever Xiao Q, following the logic of Su Mi's earlier statements.

Xiao Peng and Ke Bei immediately imitated dogs begging on their hind legs, pleading with Su Mi.

All three had adopted a meek attitude before Su Mi now, unlike their initial defiance.

Not because they'd become cowardly or surrendered.

But because they were enduring humiliation to preserve their lives, learning from Goujian who slept on firewood and tasted gall.

Their current submission before Su Mi was for the sake of future freedom.

"Oh? But that still doesn't fit. You're right that pet dogs get taken for baths by their owners, but you three are strays, mutts! When have you ever seen stray dogs getting baths?"

"Uh..."

The three were left speechless again.

But immediately,

Xiao Q put on an ingratiating expression: "We're willing to be your dogs! Woof woof!!! We want an owner too!!!"

The other two joined in: "Woof woof!"

Three young men uniformly imitating dogs made quite a comical scene.

Su Mi was amused by their antics, covering her mouth as she laughed charmingly.

Her laughter was pleasant, melodious.

Especially when Su Mi laughed, she became even more feminine.

After laughing, Su Mi curled her lips in a faint smile, covering her mouth: "Alright, you three, save your energy. You're not at the level of being my pet dogs yet, so don't think pretending to submit will make me lower my guard and let you out."

That was exactly what they'd been thinking.

But clearly, Su Mi was an extremely perceptive woman.

Those alluring eyes could see right through everything.

Su Mi continued: "As for wanting toilet paper and extra water, I know you just want to clean yourselves."

"I've got a great idea that doesn't require paper or water. Why don't you three just lick each other clean?"

"After all, you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and dogs love eating shit the most!"

"Oh, and there's a shortcut right before you three."

"If you perform for me right now—eating each other's shit—I'll believe you've fully evolved into dogs. Then I'll move to the next step ahead of schedule, making you my pet dogs sooner. How about that?"

Hearing this, all three broke down inside.

Eat shit?

Each other's shit?

Unless they truly became dogs, who could possibly do something so disgusting?

Thus, Xiao Q and the others understood from Su Mi's words that only by eating shit would they be considered fully evolved dogs?

Only then would she proceed to the next step?

So if they never ate shit, would they never proceed, remaining trapped here forever?!

"I'd rather die!"

Xiao Peng broke down completely.

But if someone truly wanted to die, they wouldn't say it out loud.

It was like employees constantly complaining about the boss's exploitation, threatening to quit.

In the end, those who kept threatening never quit.

It was always the quiet ones who actually resigned.

Su Mi looked at the three broken men, smiling slightly as she left Room 1001.

Round 27, Day 4, Midnight.

American detective Mike made his move.

Having observed through the five pinhole cameras for a full day,

he'd seen no one enter Room 1001 except for an elegant Chinese woman.

Moreover, the camera installed directly opposite Room 1001 had captured a glimpse of the living room when that Chinese woman opened the door to enter.

Though somewhat blurry, Mike clearly saw through his phone screen that there were three people—likely three men—chained up inside.

They appeared to be imprisoned.

Unfortunately, the Chinese woman opened and closed the door too quickly.

Both when entering and leaving.

The pinhole cameras couldn't do more.

No additional footage was captured.

Normally, given his cautious nature, he would have observed another day.

That would be safer.

But for some reason, his heart kept pounding violently.

As if warning him that waiting another day would lead to something dangerous.

He needed to act quickly.

You might not believe it, but this was his intuition as a famous detective.

Sometimes, intuition was more reliable than reasoning.

Therefore, he chose midnight as his time to act.

Coincidentally, at that exact moment, another 10,000 Chinese yuan was deposited into his account.