33 crew members went DEEP SEA squid hunting, turned MAD, and started hunting EACH OTHER.

Barbering barbering. The deep sea liner. 2682. was heading straight for the port in. Shandong, China. The giant vessel. measures to be about 131 ft long. It was. built with the intention of withstanding. all sorts of water and storms out at sea. for extended periods amount of time. So, this is the type of ship that goes into. the deep waters for years. Does not come. back except only to fuel up. It's a little bit strange that the ship.

is coming home so early. The original plan for this vessel was a. 2-year long expedition departing from. China, going all the way to Peru, going. around South America for a while before. finally, slowly making its way through. Japan and back to China in the Pacific. Ocean. The trip was supposed to last 2 years. Now, for some reason, the deep sea liner. 2682 makes it all the way to Peru. and then abruptly they decided turn. around and come back home just 8 months.

out at sea. Nobody knew the real reason on why they. decided to come back so early. Just that. something very bad must have happened on. that boat. It was made pretty clear to. anyone on the docks waiting that this. was not a situation of everyone just. being homesick. There was a major rainstorm the day that. the ship was coming back and everyone. that was gathered by the docks, they had. these flimsy little umbrellas that were. basically flipping upside down and. they're getting drenched in rain just. waiting for the ship.

There's this really strong sense of. uneasiness, anxiety. There were confused. family members of passengers that were. just standing around like, "I don't know. what's going on. Why are they coming. home?". There were men in suits who worked for. the company that owned the ship. They're. there confused. Almost a dozen police. cars were also waiting for the ship's. arrival. There are so many questions. Why would. there need to be so many police officers. showing up for a random boat coming home. early? And it's frustrating because when you.

see a boat that big docking, you see the. boat. You feel like it should be here. any moment now. You feel like you can. scream and talk to the people on the. boat, but it actually takes about 1 and. 1/2 to 2 hours to dock a boat that size. So, for 2 hours the family members are. just standing there cold, wet, drenched, and confused. The second that the ship docks, family. members are strictly prohibited from. talking to their loved ones that they. have not seen in 8 months. The. passengers of this boat, they're brought. out one by one, handcuffed. Their heads.

are shoved into separate police cars and. they're whisked away. People waiting at the port, they're. trying to ask questions like, "What What. the hell is going on?" But, the police. just ignore them. They get into their. squad cars and they drive off. Clearly, this is not a situation of there being a. technical issue with the boat or. somebody falling ill. It didn't look. like some sort of innocent fuel shortage. problem either. Just as quickly as the. police escorts the passengers away, men. in full hazmat suits and goggles, the.

whole nine yards, they show up. Forensic. teams board the ship and spray the. entire vessel with Luminol, which I'm sure you guys have seen in. crime shows and movies. It's a chemical. compound that you spray onto a surface. It detects blood. Even if someone tries. to clean up said blood, it can detect. blood that has been diluted 10,000. times. Wow. Once it comes in contact with blood, it. starts to glow this pale blue. fluorescent color. The whole ship started to glow like some.

sort of like badly edited Halloween. haunted ship movie. There was so much quote cleaned up blood. on the boat. It looked like someone had. filled up water balloons with blood and. just threw them at the walls of this. ship, threw them on the beds, the deck, the cabins. Every square inch of that. ship looked like there had been blood. Stairwells, communication rooms, kitchens, some of the beds were. completely drenched in blood to the. point where the mattress, it was spongy.

But, you really didn't need a forensic. team to even tell you that something. very bad happened on the boat. It's just a numbers game. When the ship. embarked on its journey December 27th, 2010, there were 33 passengers on the. ship. 8 months later, the ship would. arrive home early. with only 11 people on the boat. 22 people did not make it back. They did not get sick at sea. They did. not get into some sort of freak. accident. 22 people were murdered on the.

ship. And out of the 11 people who made. it back, only one would share the story. of what really happened on the boat. Or at least, that's what he claims.

We would like to thank today's sponsors. who have made it possible for Rotten. Mango to support Words Without Borders, which is a nonprofit that translates. international literature in an effort to. bring countries and cultures together by. closing the gap of language. This. episode's partnerships have also made it. possible to support Rotten Mango's. growing team of dedicated researchers, translators so that they can focus on. shedding light on stories from all over. the world. We'd also like to thank you. guys for your continued support as we. work on our mission to be worthy. advocates for these causes.

As always, full show notes are available. at rottenmangopodcast.com. But, we did have the help of our amazing. Chinese researchers and translators with. the gathering of data on this case. But, as always with any and all cases, especially the international ones, please let us know if there's anything. lost in translation, miscommunicated, or. if there are any other additional. details you'd like us to know, please. let us know in the comments. And also, before we dive into this, a huge source. for this episode was an interview with. one of the 11 that came back on the boat. and it was done by a journalist by the.

name of Du Chen. It's translated from. Mandarin to English by Words Without. Borders by Nikki Hartman and Emily. Jones. And through that, the case was. able to gain international attention. So, please check out the original. sources in the show notes. And with that. being said, let's get into it. There are. some superstitions that seamen just live. by. There are the more obvious ones. Don't turn anything upside down while. you're at sea. Like a cup, don't put the cup in the. cabinet upside down. That means your. ship is going to capsize and go upside.

down. Don't whistle on a boat because. you're whistling up a storm. Or even the. superstition of don't bring bananas on. board. So, this is like an older legend, but. allegedly back in the day, like in the. 1700s, a lot of ships were lost at sea. When they were found later, everybody. was dead and there were just rotten. bananas everywhere. A lot of banana. cargo ships went lost at sea. The theory. being that these boats were trying to. move too quickly to their destination to. sell the bananas before they ripened and. got rotten. So, it's pretty fast.

considering bananas get overripe just. like that. So, they rushed. They hit a. storm. They weren't being safe. So, all. of these things became things to be on. the lookout for before your next cruise. or before your next ship takes off. Whistling, bananas, things that are. placed upside down. But, what do you do. about the things that just kind of feel. weird, but you can't necessarily decide. whether or not they should stop the. entire trip? Before the deep sea liner. Lu Rong Yu 2682 set sail, something very. weird happened. Okay, well, two strange.

things happened. The first being that. one of the crew members had to quit. unexpectedly because their mom was run. over by a truck and she broke her arm. And everyone was like, "Okay, that's a. little bit weird. Maybe it's a little. bit of a bad omen, but she wasn't on the. boat, right? So, it should be fine.". That was the first, "Mm, maybe this isn't a good sign.". The second one was the ship was still at. the dock preparing for the 2-year long. journey. They're bringing in all of the. necessities. The crew are getting.

settled in their cabins. They're doing. routine checks. Most of them are. actually going to be sleeping on the. boat for the next few days just to get. it prepped for departure. And in the. middle of the night, there are these. feral screams coming out of one of the. crew cabins. "Murder! Murder! Murder!". Someone's just screaming bloody murder, literally. It was Chef Yan, the man. hired and paid to be on the ship to do. all the cooking for the next 2 years. He's screaming, "Murder!". Everyone starts briefly freaking out. until they realize nobody was murdered.

Maybe the man's dreaming. Maybe he had a. nightmare. They tell him, "Hey, go back. to bed. Nobody's getting killed.". Everyone goes back to their rooms. They. start doing their own things, sleeping, playing poker, laying in bed staring at. their phones. And at 1:00 a.m., he. starts screaming, "Murder! Murder!" all. over again. This time, the captain of the ship had. enough. He drags the chef up to the deck. and starts screaming at him, "Sit down. and behave.". The captain storms off and Chef Yan just.

falls to the floor of the deck and he. just looks defeated. He looks. embarrassed. He sits there for a solid. few minutes in silence. And then out of. nowhere, ever so calmly, he gets up, walks to the edge of the ship, and jumps. into the water. What? The ship is still very much in the. harbor. Nobody was sure why Chef Yan. decided to jump into the water rather. than just walking off the ship. But, this is This is a very dangerous. situation nonetheless. It's actually not. smart to be in the water at the docks.

You could be electrocuted. But, other. than that, the water is cold at night, the wind is strong, there's a lot of. propellers in the water. I mean, no one. could see him. Everyone came out onto. the deck trying to lure Chef Yan back. onto the boat or at least back onto the. docks for his own safety. But, for 30. minutes, he's just swimming around the. boat screaming, "Murder! Murder!". Eventually, he's pulled out of the water. by another boat and sent home. I mean, the whole thing was just so. strange. So, did he go?

Yeah, he he went home. He didn't stay on. the ship? No. Some of the crew were questioning, "Guys, is this a bad omen of sorts?". Because Chef Yan was actually pretty. well known amongst seamen to be mentally. solid. Like, that's the type of man that. you can trust to bring out to sea for 2. years and he would be fine. Some other. younger seamen, they can't handle it. They can maybe do 6 months and then. they're at their breaking point. Mentally, they're exhausted. They're. about to snap. Chef Yan, he could do 3. years. He's good at being out in deep. water for long periods of time. So, what.

happened? The captain's trying to calm the crew. down. Well, his mom passed away a few. days ago. So, you know, his family has. been going through a lot. He really. wanted the job for the money and he said. he was ready to come back to work. Clearly, he wasn't. No big deal, guys. happens. We'll find another chef. The crew just kind of chalked it up to. grief and loss. They work on finding a. replacement, Chef Zia. Chef Zia is hired. to replace Chef Yan and maybe you. believe in superstitions, maybe you.

don't, but Chef Zia would be the first. to be murdered on the ship. 7 and 1/2 months into the trip, one of. the younger passengers, Charlie, would. have a full snap from reality. He had been begging the other shipmates. for this moment. He he'd been asking all. the passengers, "When is it my turn?". Literally asking to see if he could be a. part of this. And it just felt good to finally be. accepted after 7 and 1/2 months. He leaned down and he touched this oozy,

sticky surface. So, he dipped two. fingers into the liquid. He brought it. up to his face and he hesitantly swiped. it on his cheeks. It was a red streak. He started smiling because it felt good. So, he bent down and he just starts. erratically wiping his hands into the. liquid and then fanatically, like. frantically, smearing it all over his. face. And he screamed, "I've been. bloodied.". His face was bright red. He was smearing. the blood of his first human kill on the.

ship. And to him, it felt so good. Mr. Du, the young journalist, he heard. about the very suspicious ship that. turned all the passengers crazy to the. point where they started hunting each. other on the ship. I mean, it's more. like the premise of a horror movie. It's. like Hunger Games on a boat than a. real-life story. So, Mr. Du, he can't. forget about this case once he hears. about it. He thought about it non-stop. It's taking up all of his brain space. It just didn't make sense. Was it. collective insanity? Mass psychosis?

Like, there have been cases of shared. psychotic disorders where two or more. people in very close relationships, they. share a specific delusion together. The. inducer, the primary person with the. psychotic disorder, influences another. person to feel those delusional beliefs. It's rare to see shared psychosis in. even two individuals and even rarer to. see it in large groups, let alone 33. passengers on a ship. It it is a tad bit. different from cults, if that's where. your mind is headed, where the cult.

leader maybe more or less believes in. the delusions that they're sharing with. others, but they're just more hell-bent. on power and praise and money more than. anything. This This seems like a group. of people that would have to be in a. collective state of psychosis to start. hunting each other out in the deep. ocean. I think the most recognizable case of. shared psychosis are the Eriksson twins. Do you remember this case? Ursula and. Sabina Eriksson, Swedish twins. They. were otherwise ordinary sisters who, in.

May of 2008, they made headlines for. their really disturbing behavior. I. mean, they were just seen on the side of. the highway looking determined, calm. almost. And then they suddenly started. sprinting straight into oncoming. traffic. It was chaos. One of them, Sabina, was briefly arrested, later let. out without a full psychiatric. evaluation. She ended up murdering a man. that was just trying to help her. I. mean, it was a whole thing. That is. probably the most famous example of. shared psychosis.

Some people just kind of chalked it up. to that because this was only like 3. years later. So, people are thinking, "Maybe this is shared psychosis with 33. people, 33 passengers." Or maybe it's a. mass murder mystery that we'll never. really be able to solve. But journalist. didn't not think so. He traveled all the. way to this small, tiny little windy. town in the northeast part of China and. he was going to interview one of the. remaining passengers of the boat. One of the 11. Mr. Du gave him the alias.

of Zhao Mu-Chang, but we're going to. call him Zach. Zach had been released. from prison maybe just like a year ago. He was in his late 20s, but he looked. much, much older and he had this very. shifty, uneasy air about him. Like, he. didn't want to talk to you about. anything. He asked the journalist, "What do you. want to know?" "I want to know about the. people. I mean, this can't just be a situation. of shared psychosis or evil people that. happen to end up on the same ship. together, right? No, it had to be. something different. Charlie was normal before we got on the.

ship. The one that smeared blood all over his. face? He's actually the one that. introduced me to the opportunity in the. first place. Mr. Du looked at Zach and said, "Tell me. about how the killings started 5 years. ago.". This is the story that Zach shares. Now, just keep in mind, this is just about. everything we know about what happened. on the ship, but it's very hard to say. if this is without a doubt the solid. truth. There are conversations online. about whether or not Zach is a survivor, like he claims he is, or if he's a. killer that got luckier than the others.

No other survivors have been interviewed. and none of them have come forward, at. least that we know of. So, this is what. we have. Zach said, "Before Charlie and the rest. of the passengers started hunting each. other, they were just there to hunt squid. Lu Rong Yu 2682 was a squid ship. And I guess I never gave it much thought. on how squid was caught. If you made me. answer it a few weeks ago, I probably. would have made a guess of, I don't. know, boats go out into the sea, send. down some nets and catch squid, right? Squid fishing feels more like Squid. Games. There's human trafficking, forced.

labor, runaway boats, and people thrown. into the ocean, beaten, abused, injured, thrown overboard to their death to catch. squid for a profit. It's actually. basically a cartel. It's the squid cartel. It's terrifying. These squid fleets' boats are sent out. into the deep waters of the Pacific. Ocean to catch squid. They will usually. stay out there for a year or two. Every single day, every single person on. that boat wakes up and their sole.

existence is catching squid, cutting. squid, freezing squid, taking a brief. nap, and then catching squid, cutting. squid, freezing squid. Most of the squid population, the. colonies, they thrive in South America. water. Now, most of the squid catching. companies are Chinese. They're not South. American companies. So, the journey. alone from China to the coast of South. America, where most of the squid fishing. is done, even that journey is rough. It. takes 2 months. 2 months to get there.

and it is not a smooth sailing. experience. Like, this water is not. known to be nice, kind, and forgiving. Then once you get into the open waters, you are just in the middle of the ocean. for 1 to 2 years. There are storms that. you have to weather. You can't see land. in the horizon. You are that far into. the ocean. You don't see an island even. with binoculars. There's no light pollution. It's pitch. black outside at night. And that's when the fishing starts. At.

night, the fishermen wake up, head to. the deck that's covered in squid ink. No. matter how much you try to clean it, it. will never fully be gone. So, it's just. black? It's actually turns mucusy once you. clean it. Like, the mucusy substance is. left over. Then you get up to the deck and you turn. on these giant bulbs. It looks eerily. bright. It's like a eerily bright lit. auto body shop. There's oil oozing. around. Squid ink, it's mucusy. The. lights are so bright, even if you look. at it or open your eyes for more than 1.

second, your eyes start to water. The light bulbs are the size of bowling. balls. The light is the thing that attracts the. squid. But you can't see much into the. water or even around you because the. light is shining down on you and the. ship. So, you probably feel vulnerable. in the middle of the ocean and the ship. is glowing this strange blue-green color. straight out of a Pirates of the. Caribbean movie. A New Yorker piece stated, "To the. squid, the human squid catching ships, they must feel like aliens. Glowing in vessels approaching.

And then you just want to go see what. the light is about. You just want to see. why it's glowing and why it's floating. And so, you go and you see a rope come. down with some yummy food. So, you bite. onto it and suddenly, you're being. lifted up onto this new vessel that. you've never seen in your entire squid. existence life only to be gutted and. killed for more aliens to eat. And the ship is the only thing lit up in. the water. Like, a bright bull's-eye, a. target. You can see the light from.

almost 100 miles away. That's how bright. the lights are. And it doesn't just burn your eyes, it's. hot. The heat is roasting down your back. while you work during the night. The. ocean is known to be cold during the. nighttimes. It's hot on that ship at. night. Squid fishing is not like regular. fishing where you throw in a line and. you patiently wait for a tug. Each. worker gets to operate three squid. fishing machines. It's a terrifying, mechanical-looking process. It's the. type of process like a factory machine. where you feel like if your sleeve of.

your shirt gets caught, you're going to. be out an arm. That's what it looks. like. Each worker has three giant wheels. that keep turning and turning and it's. just bringing in more of this metal line. and every so often on this metal line, there's just squid on the hooks to. artificial bait. It's not even real bait. for squid. They come up. The hooks have sunk into. the squid. It's all done by machine. The. worker is there to unhook the squid. And. sometimes, if there's a really big squid.

caught, they have to tug on the line. manually, really hard. Sometimes it. takes multiple men to bring it out of. the water. Some squid can get up to be. 220 lb. It's a physically demanding job that. challenges a worker's strength, stamina, not just physically, but also mentally. and emotionally. Your skin never feels. dry on those boats. Whether it's from the seawater during. storms, or the boat never just fully. dries, or the squid ink that's just. covering every surface of this freaking. boat, you've missed the feeling of dry. skin. Your hands feel like sponges,

which is probably not the best when you. have to work with sharp objects to cut. and gut the squid. But the wetness, that's probably the. least of a squid fisher's complaints. You just want to get into a flow state. where your hands are working, but your. mind is on land. Your mind is not on. this boat. Because if you're not, you're. going to start getting frustrated with. the sound of the squid. Did you know. What? when squid get caught, they hiss? It's like a You know when you have a. kettle that's on the stove and it starts.

hissing? Yeah. Squid hiss. Oh, man. They turn translucent. and they start hissing at you. Squid fishers, they try to block out. that sound as best as possible. Because. imagine how many squid are just hissing. But it's not easy, and there's nothing. that you can do to block out the stench. Deep-sea squid have high levels of. ammonia. The air on the ship smells like. the world's most collectively. worst-smelling urinal stall ever. By the end of the night of squid. fishing, the entire deck floor is.

overflowing with squid, shin-deep. You. can't even walk around the deck anymore. It's all squid, and they're all hissing. at you, and they're all oozing squid. ink. By the end of the shift, your skin. smells like pee and squid, and your. clothes, they can't even be washed. Most. of these ships don't want to waste. resources on the workers for their. clothes. So the fisherman, what they do. after a dirty shift, is they tie up all. their squid ink-covered clothes, toss it. into the water, and it drags behind the. boat for miles in the salt water. That's. how they do laundry.

But catching squid is only half the job. The same fisherman have to now weigh, measure, wash, and sort the squid into. metal trays for freezing and bagging. First, you have to separate the squid. into two groups. The squid that are. under 9 lb, and the ones that weigh over. 9 lb. The ones below 9 lb have to be. cleaned and placed onto trays ready to. be frozen. While the big squid, they. have to be cut and separated into fins, trunks, heads. Then at the end of the. work day, each worker has to bring. around 50 trays of squid down into this. massive freezer on the ship. Each tray.

is said to weigh about 33 lb. So you. have to go up and down this cramped. stairwell 50 times with these trays. Every couple of weeks, a secondary boat. will pull up to the main squid ship and. take the frozen squid, so that your. freezer is empty for more squid. And if. the squid cartel, or I mean, the squid. company doesn't think that you've caught. enough squid in the allotted amount of. time, you will be hearing about it, and. you'll likely pay for it. And then once. the workers are done with that, they.

have to sweep the deck, clean the. cabins, scrub toilets, mop showers. They. do this 16 hours a day, 6 days a week. for 2 years straight. But that's when there's a moderate. amount of squid. If the vessel predicts. or feels that there's a massive squid. colony moving through the area, fishermen are forced to work 3 days. straight, only getting in about 1-hour. naps a day. A day. If you decide halfway through, guys, never mind. I don't want to do this. anymore. Forget the money. You don't. even have to pay me for the past 6.

weeks. Just take me home. There's no way. I can do this for another year and a. half of my life. They're not going to take you home. There are a lot of alarming reports that. people have been shackled, beaten, and. starved, forced into submission to keep. fishing for squid. Even if you're not. trying to quit or go home, if you make a. mistake or you're too slow at catching. squid, you'll likely get beat. Some. fishermen get injured on the job. Weaker. men, they start going crazy just from. not seeing the land for 2 years. Some. fishermen die from low vitamin levels.

Apparently, they get swollen like melons. before they pass. Their eye whites turn. yellow. They're exhausted, overworked, barely seeing the sun. They're not. eating well. Why? Because by month four, most vegetables and fruit have run out. on the ship. Not that the workers were. wined and dined to begin with. And if. you're not injured and dying, you're. watching everyone around you injured and. dying in these brutal conditions. And. the only stress reliever that you can. somewhat afford on this boat, because. you're basically cut off from the rest. of the world, you can't contact your. family or the outside world. Whatever.

you brought on that ship with you is all. you have. You brought three books? You. better reread those three books. A lot of crew members will just. chain-smoke as a stress reliever. But. there's no gas stations out at sea. If. you run out of cigarettes that you. brought in the past 2 years, you have no. more cigarettes. Unless you purchase. them from the ship, from the company. They have like a little convenience. store. The company will sell the workers. cigarettes at maybe 20 times the price. that they would be on land. A lot of.

workers, if they're not careful, they. can smoke away all the money that they. earn in 2 years. The idea that that's even possible, I. mean, is kind of insane. Or maybe you just need to relax. If you. miss 1 day of work, you will get beaten, and they get 2 days of pay taken off. And just something to note, I went down. the rabbit hole. The squid fishing. industry is terrifying, and China does. dominate in that industry. There are a. lot of questionable Chinese companies.

that have been called out for very. illegal, very ethically immoral things. that they have done to catch squid, and. the abuse that they put their workers. through. I mean, some of the companies. are just pure, pure evil. But The New. Yorker, they put out a piece of the. squid fishing industry, and at the very. end of their piece, they added food for. thought. Because it's very easy to just. point the finger at one very, very. deplorable part of the food chain. But over 70% of China's seafood catch is. exported out of China and into places. like the United States and the EU.

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So this is the kind of ship that they're. on. They're not on a 9-month cruise. They're on a hell journey for 2 years. Do you remember Charlie, the one who. smeared blood all over his face? Mhm. He. was the one that got Zach the job in the. first place. Zach had never been on a boat like this. before. Neither had Charlie. I mean, you. would imagine that Shen Fa Foods, the. company that owns the ship, they would. be recruiting real fishermen that know. what they're doing to go out there for 2.

years. But no, they were honestly just. taking about anyone. Charlie was on the boat because he. burned down a building. By accident, though. He worked for a bus. company before this, and one night, Charlie got super, super drunk, started. playing mahjong at a coworker's place. He's drinking. One thing leads to. another, he burns the building down. Look, we don't know exactly how he. burned the building down. It seems to be. an accident, but not really, because he. was drunk and being careless. The whole. building caught on fire, and because he. started the fire, he was in a ton of.

debt for the building repairs. And he. thought, "You know what? This is the. best way to make money quickly, because. even if I make money right now, here's. the problem. I keep spending all my. money.". I keep going and spending it on rent and. going out to these restaurants and. wanting to hang out with my friends. If. I'm on this ship, how am I going to. spend the money I'm working on? And I. get free room, three meals a day, with very little expenses. Zach. describes Charlie as being the type of. guy that was pretty excited about this. whole experience. He wasn't moping. around, dragging his feet, like.

complaining about, "Oh, I can't believe. I have to do this because I'm in debt. I. didn't even mean to set the place on. fire." He was actually a happy-go-lucky. kind of guy. Zach and Charlie knew each. other from working at a restaurant. together. A few summers back, they both. worked at a barbecue restaurant. And I. feel like this was a bad omen in and of. itself. It was a very rainy summer. They. worked at a barbecue restaurant outside. They made next to nothing working. together. It seemed like these two. friends, they just did not have the best. luck when they were put together.

So, Charlie calls Zach, tells him, "This. is the job of a lifetime. The fishing. company is going to pay us 45,000 yuan a. year." The average salary in China in. 2010 was closer to 35,000 yuan. This is. with a college degree, like an office. job. So, this is a big deal. They don't. care about your education background. They don't care about your work. experience. I mean, this is unheard of. Side note, 45,000 yuan is about 6 and. 1/2 thousand US dollars. So, $6,500, which I know might not sound like a lot. of money because of the conversion.

rates. But, if you're in America, this. would be like the equivalent scenario. Someone is offering you $95,000 a year, compared to the national salary average. of $74,000 a year. And that $74,000 is. with people with college degrees. They're getting corporate jobs. So, $94,000 for someone who didn't even. graduate high school, that's crazy. I mean, I think that helps. put into perspective, right, how. desperate they were for this type of. money. And not only do you get that. 45,000 yuan, you get a bonus when the.

job is complete and you land back on. land. Zach's liking the idea of it. He's like, "I have a girlfriend that I really love, and I know that I'm not earning enough. to satisfy her and marry her. Like, her. family's never going to let it happen. So, this would be my sacrifice. Go on. the ship for 2 years. When I get back, she's going to be my wife.". And hopefully, he wouldn't spend too. much money on the ship, because I mean, living expenses would be very low, and. he wouldn't even have time to go out and. drink and hang out with friends. Company gives you three meals a day.

This is perfect. Side note, every crew. member, this is kind of important later, you get a weight limit of luggage and. supplies that you can bring. So, you do. get three meals a day. You get a bunk. bed, but shampoo, conditioner, all of. these things, you need to bring for. either 2 years, or you can buy them at. the store on the ship, but the store is. very expensive. It's kind of giving like real-life Squid. Game. Yes. Like, you have to weigh all of your. stuff, and then, you know, it's it's. just really bizarre. Some people would. use it to bring beer. Some people would use that weight to. bring cigarettes, water bottles, soft.

drinks, instant noodles. Again, you can. technically buy all of these on the. ship, but it's going to be very, very. expensive. On the boat, a carton of. cigarettes costs about 26 US dollars. Back at home, yeah, cheap cigarettes in. China can go for as low as a few dollars. for a full carton. The markup is unhinged. Some of the workers had plans to make. even more money, though, because they took out a loan. There was. a guy named Lou who did this. He took.

out a loan, bought a ton of cigarettes, enough to stack them up from the bottom. bunk to the ceiling, and the plan was to. sell them later to the other workers for. half the markup of the ship. So, instead. of $25 a carton, he was going to sell. them for $15 a carton. He would still be making like $12 a. carton profit. They would never get to do that, though, because 22 people would be murdered. December 27th, 2010, the first day on. open water, everyone is gagging, hurling. breakfast, lunch, and dinner over the. side of the boat. I mean, just looking.

at the cup noodles that they stockpiled. in their rooms, they want to gag, they. want to throw up, because the fishing. company just wanted to recruit anyone. that they could get. Most of the men on. the boat had never been on a boat. The seasickness was something that they. could not handle. They would rush to the. toilet, they would rush up to the deck. to just throw up. They would come back. looking frail, gray, green, and their. hands would just be on their temples. trying to massage the nausea away. This is very interesting, but the minute. that you can't see land anymore, a lot.

of people report feeling uneasy, and it. makes them feel even more seasick. It's just interesting. They say that. they feel a little bit lost, like. there's a lump of anxiety in their. stomach when they can't see land. So, they're dealing with that. They're. regurgitating every solid food that. they've consumed in the past 48 hours. And side note about this, this is very. shady, but a lot of the guys that were. on the boat, there were 33 people on the. boat, all men, very fascinating to note. Most of them don't even have a marine. license, which means that they're not. legally allowed to fish at sea, and.

they're considered illegal laborers. The. company said, "It's fine. It's fine. We. do this all the time. Everything will be. fine. We just have to smuggle you onto. the main ship.". So, on the main ship, only the crew with. certificates and licenses were allowed. to be on board. Customs and immigration. would let them through, do a check of. the boat, and then 10 minutes later, a. little speedboat would pull up with all. of the other workers, all 18 of them, that did not have their licenses. How did they get on? They just like threw down a little rope.

Oh. Everyone knew that this was illegal. It just happens. Yeah, it just happens. The company told. the men, "Well, if we don't do it this. way and you have to get your license, then that's money out of our pocket, which means less money for you, because, you know, we got to make our profits, too. So, that doesn't make sense. Do you. want more money in your pocket, or do. you want a marine license?". The workers were like, "I want more. money in my pocket." The seasickness. would last for about 16 days. From. there, it was smooth sailing. The first. 2 months of this trip, it was like a.

cruise more than anything. Everyone's. getting over the seasickness. You wake. up, walk up to the deck. You don't have. work to do. The squid aren't there. You're just moving. You're trying to get. to South America. You see open water for. as far as you can see, and it's this. incredible feeling of almost like you're. conquering something. You just feel. free. Then you chit-chat with some of the. other crew, play chess, read books. But, the best was gambling. As long as they. had a deck of cards, oh, poker every. day, all day.

The ship was like a mini casino, and. everyone would slowly let their guards. down, and they're getting to know each. other. There's like a just a real. oddball mixture of guys there. You had. seamen who had done 3 years out at sea, no problem, before. Some of them had. gone deep-sea fishing in Africa, tons of. experience. Side note, one of the guys. that had gone deep-sea fishing in. Africa, his wife really did not want him. to go on this trip, because on the way. back home last time, they encountered. pirates. It was terrifying. He could have died. So, since then, she was like, "I just.

want you to be in a radius near the. land, because usually when you can see. land, it's hard for there to be pirates. of any nation, you know? So, please. don't go." And he's like, "Babe, I have. to go. It's I'm just ready for it, and. my friend said he needed help, they need. people. If I back out now and they can't. find more seamen, how can I ever look at him again?". So, there are a lot of experienced. sailors, all the way down to Michael. Michael's a recent college graduate who. could not find an office job. He did not.

graduate with anything that had anything. to do with the sea, nothing like that. So, he just applied for this, which is a. wild escalation of events. He was. choking up telling the rest of the men. about how his mom was begging him not to. go. She was yelling at him, "You've. never even been on a boat. You have zero. experience. You've never even hung bait. on a fishing line.". But, Michael thought, "You know, this is. great way to make money, Mom, and I'm. trying to learn a new set of skills. Would you rather me lay around at home. and do nothing, or work for the next 2. years?".

Another guy was training to be a pilot, and he thought that this was a great way. to see the world. Some guys straight up said they didn't. have anything better to do. And once they got all this cash, they. were going to buy a new car. They were. going to get some designer stuff when. they get back. One of them said, "My sister was. wrecked. I mean, tears streaming down. her face, and I sat her down, and I was. like, 'Hey, just imagine I went to. prison for 2 years, okay? Just forget. about it.' But, a lot of the men, they. were there to pay off debt. One guy had. a pig farm that got completely. obliterated by a pig disease. He owed a.

lot of money. Charlie, he burned down a building, but none of that really mattered on the. boat, because there's no way for. creditors to track you down on the open. water. By early February 2011, the ship had. been sailing in the Pacific for over a. month, and it was almost Chinese New. Year. There is this air of excitement. and peace within the ship. Everyone's. cooking up the feast. They've got eight. meat dishes to share. They're sitting on. the ship floor with metal bowls and. disposable chopsticks. They're helping. each other scoop rice. It's all this.

like cute moments. They're laughing, joking about how when this is all over, we're going to go to each one of our. hometowns and eat the hometown food. I. want to try those noodles that you keep. talking about from back home. They were allowed to use the ship's. satellite phone to call their families. back, cuz it's Chinese New Year. And it would be the last time that many. of them would ever get to talk to their. loved ones. 2 months before arriving back at the. harbor, loud music was blasting on the. ship. Everyone knew what that meant.

It was time to hunt. They were hunting. each other. By the time that the music. cut off, people would be dead. If you. were unlucky, you would be brutally. stabbed and thrown overboard with. nothing but the loud music ringing in. your ears. And if you were really. unlucky, you would still be alive when. you hit the water, and then you knew. that the end would be you waiting for. the fins to show up because once the. sharks smell blood, they come out to. feed. There are a few distinct phases that the. passengers would go through before they. completely snap and start playing Hunger.

Games on this boat. The first phase is nothing is wrong. until something is wrong. Zack was in the dorm one day when he saw. Lou, another crewmate, and he's he left. his notebook laying on the bed. They. were almost to Peru, so he reaches over, he's flipping around, and it's all sort. of like random numbers written down. When Lou comes back into the room, Zack. asks, "Hey Lou, what what are you. writing down in your journal?". "Oh, yeah, those are the ship's. coordinates and where we are.". "Oh, why? Doesn't the ship track that?".

"No reason. I just thought it'd be kind. of fun.". Zack kind of waited for Lou to explain. further about this whole coordinate. situation cuz. it's just a little bit weird, but Lou. was just an interesting man. He always. looked like he was deep in thought on. this boat about something somewhere, but. he would never tell anyone what it was, which is fascinating because by like. month two, everyone is telling everybody. their deepest darkest thoughts and. secrets because you don't have anyone. else to talk to. All people knew about Lou was that his. parents were poor farmers and he had to.

make money to marry his girlfriend. He. was also kind of scrawny. I mean, you. would never really look at this man and. think, "This guy is strong. This guy is. muscular." But he was. When it came time. to unload all the squid and carry the. giant metal trays down into the freezer, those things, like I said, they weigh 33. lb, and because of the size of the tray, it's just really very difficult to. balance and carry it down. Lou had. offered to do it for Zack because Zack. was short and pretty weak, which is. crazy considering this is not an easy.

task, and Lou's not going to get paid. for Zack's portion of the work. Why. would he do that? It's bizarre. Zack. said he was thankful, but at the same. time, Lou was still fascinating. Lou. liked to look out for people on the. ship, but at the same time, he also. liked to look down on everyone around. him. So, it's nice, but it's also kind. of mean. He just seemed full of himself, but in a quiet, "I don't even want to. talk to you because I don't think you're. worth it. I don't think I should waste. my breath on you." That's the type of.

guy he was. But what could you say? He's the squid. king on the boat. There was one month. where he caught 7 tons of squid, which. is about 14,000 lb. That's about the. weight of an elephant in squid. Or. imagine two and a half SUVs parked in. front of you, but instead of SUVs, it's. just giant piles of squid. In a single month. He wasn't even an experienced fisherman, but he knew how to catch squid, and he. made it a point to help everyone around. him. Like there was this sense of. teamwork with him around. It was really.

tough. It was really bad, but everybody. was there for the same reason, and it. just felt nice to be working towards. something until two of the workers got. sick. They was uh is pretty bad. They. couldn't even get up from their beds. There was no doctor on board, limited. medications. I mean, nobody knew what. was wrong with them. And even then, they. were in some really unsanitary. conditions. So, it's even harder for. their immune systems to work overtime to. help them recover. One of the guys that. fell sick was Lou's best friend, little. minion, 19-year-old.

Jin. He was so sick, he was laying in. bed asking Lou, "Can you call the. company? Just request me be taken off. this ship. They don't have to pay me for. the past like 4 months of work. I don't. care. I just need to go home and see a. doctor. It's that bad. I don't even need. any of the money.". Jin's parents were from Beijing, and. they had a bit of money. They had a. house. They had a car, which is a pretty. big deal in Beijing. The only reason Jin. ever came was because he liked Lou, and.

he wanted to be a sailor. That's it. He. was in it for the ride. The company. rejected his request to go home to see a. doctor. Well, I mean, if you want to go home, then the ship had to go all the way. back? Well, they can request that a. smaller boat come and get you, and you. can pay for that, pay for your fare. back. Okay. But not only that, the captain of. the boat, Captain Lee, instead of. helping the workers, he called the. company like a little snitch and made. sure to stop their payments for a month. while they recovered, the two sick. people. The two sick men were really upset about.

this. I mean, I think everybody on the. ship was because they'd all been working. so hard. There was a sense of teamwork. established, and now it's confirmed, if. you get sick from working your hardest, nothing you did matters because the. company will stop paying you. They won't. even appreciate that you exhausted. yourself, and that's why you got sick. Even the captain isn't on your side. rooting for you. And this just planted a tiny little seed. in everybody's minds, the captain and. this company, they're not on our team.

And then one comment did it in. Everybody was sitting around eating when. one of the workers looked pensive. Everyone's like, "What's wrong?". "Nothing. I just um. You know, I Well, it's probably. nothing.". "What is it?". "We were supposed to depart on December. 28th. But do you guys remember how we. left a day early on December 27th? Which. means technically our contract doesn't. make sense because our contract is. December 28th to December 28th, 2012. But what if there's some sort of like. legal loophole because technically we.

started working December 27th? What if. that means our contract isn't really. valid and it doesn't mean anything. because. we didn't start work on that day. Does that mean they can get away with. not paying us? I mean, I'm sure they're. That's dumb, right? It's a big company. There's no way. That doesn't make sense, right? Yeah. The workers glance around, and the seed starts sprouting roots. A. few of them are whispering in the dorms. that night, and they decide the next day. that they would just ask the captain to. clarify a few things in their contract.

No big deal, you know? They sit the captain down and ask about. the specifics and if they're still going. to get paid the 45,000 yuan. "Well, you were going to get paid 45,000. yuan if you didn't catch any squid.". "What?". "Yeah, if you caught no squid, you would. be guaranteed 45,000 yuan a year. But if. you catch squid, you don't get the. guaranteed pay. You get the base pay. plus commission.". What? "Well, well, how much is the base. pay?" "1,000 yuan a month.".

"So, you're only making 12,000 yuan a. year when you're promised 45,000 yuan, and you're just going to hope that you. catch enough squid individually to make. the rest in commission?". So, to put that in perspective, think. about how devastating this is. These men. came out into the ship in the middle of. nowhere without their loved ones to work. 16 hours a day in some of the most. brutal conditions imaginable, and their. base pay a month would be guaranteed to. be 140 USD a month. So, this is like a scam contract. Yeah. Wow.

The men were distraught, but the captain. reassured them, "Well, you have the. commission structure, so technically you. can make 45,000 yuan a year.". He explained the commission structure, and it only made things worse. Everyone. found out that even if they worked as. hard as Lou and caught 30 tons of squid. in 3 months, which is the size of a. shipping container per person or the. weight of a fire truck or a yacht in. squid, if they caught that much squid. every 3 months for the next 2 years, they would make 3,400 yuan a month or.

about 488 USD a month. If they did not even lift a finger, if. they never caught a squid, they would. have made 523 USD a month. A lot of things are wrong with this. I. mean, finding this out was not great for. morale. Your boss is like, "I'm going to. pay you a thousand dollars a month for. doing nothing, for just existing. But if. you work your ass off to the point of. killing your body, mental state, I'm. going to pay you less than that." But. additionally, most people weren't even. catching as much as Lou. They were going.

to be making a lot less than what they. thought they were going into this for. When Lou got word of this pay structure, he sat there and started doing all the. mental calculations. There was no way. out. He screwed himself. because he had gotten a loan for all. those cigarettes. Technically, he should be the best off. because he's the one catching most of. the squid, but that loan, he took it. from the fishing company to buy. cigarettes. He did the math. Even if he. worked as hard as he did for the past 3. months for the next 2 years, he would.

barely make enough to cover the loan he. took out for the cigarettes. Worse than. that, worst case scenario, if the the. squid fishing gets slower, he might have. to perform hard labor for 2 years and. still owe the fishing company money. Oh, this is like straight up those squid. game. Oh my gosh. So, for a while, everyone just sat there soaking it in. A. lot of the guys never hired attorneys to. look over their contracts. First, they. didn't have the funds to, but second, they just assumed there was no way that. such a big company would screw them over. like that.

Since that day, nobody's mind was on. fishing anymore. They were all pulling. each other off to the side, whispering. about something, planning something. There's a saying in China, it's very. straightforward. If it's cheap, it's not. going to be good quality. If it's good. quality, it's not going to be cheap. So, when the crew found out that they're. making peanuts, like next to nothing, they're going to stop trying. Other squid fishing boats nearby would. complete their catch at around 8:00 to. 9:00 a.m., but 2682 would finish at. around 2:00 p.m.

Nobody was really trying anymore. Some. of the workers would straight up. disappear from the deck. They'd be found. sleeping in their cabins. Even Lou, his. mind is not on fishing. A few of the. workers tried to talk to the captain and. say, "Please, just let us go home then. Not a single one of us want to be here. anymore.". "We're 17,000 miles away from home. I'm. not wasting all this fuel spending. months taking you back home because you. don't know how to read a damn contract. before signing it. Besides, you don't. have a license. No boat, including. myself, is going to be willing to. smuggle you 18 back in through the.

borders.". So, remember, 18 of them did not have. licenses. "You have to work whether you like it or. not. Let this be a lesson to read. contracts better next time. And that is when they entered the next. phase of madness. If they're not with. you, they're against you. And from the get-go, there were four. groups of friends. There were also a lot. of relatives on board, which makes this. whole thing even more insane that 22. people get murdered. But out of the four. groups of friends, there were the. Dalians. Dalian is a part of China on.

the eastern coast. It's actually very. close to North Korea. Now, the Dalian. group was led by Captain Lee, the. captain of the boat. There were about 10. people in his inner circle, and most of. them were professional sailors, and they. were part of the management team on the. ship. So, none of them really did any of. the actual squid fishing. They are there. to make sure the ship stayed afloat for. 2 years. The chef was included in this. group. I mean, they were the closest to. the company. In terms of hierarchy, they're at the top with Captain Lee. sitting on a throne. Then you had the. Mongolians led by Bao Di. Now, they were.

really able to keep to themselves a lot. because most of them spoke Mongolian, and none of the rest could understand. them. There were only like four or five. of them. Then you had the northeast group, which. was run by Liu. They only had about five. people in the group. One of them was. Mongolian, the other one was Dalian, but. they felt more allegiance to Liu rather. than their hometowns or like the. province that they were from. And the. other 12, they were the neutral group. And immediately after Captain Lee. refuses to take the ship back home, the. leader of the northeast group, Liu, and.

the leader of the Mongolian group, Bao. Di, they start talking. They would rant. to each other whispering, "You know, we. work so hard, but this company's a scam. They don't even pay us minimum wage, and. they think that we clearly won't get the. money stated in the contract. That's why. they're acting like this. That's why. they're not even listening to us. We. want to go back.". Slowly, these rants, they turned into a. solution. If the captain doesn't want to take us. home, then we force him. We hijack this. ship. Liu and Bao Di were in, so were their.

groups. But both of them were trying to. convince the others from the neutral. group. Liu sat them down and said, "On. the way here, I wrote down the. coordinates for fun. I didn't think it. was going to be useful, but even without. the captain, I can retrace our steps and. get us back home. And when we get back, I know a pretty good lawyer. We can all. sue the company together.". A lot of the neutral people were kind of. hesitant. Liu told them, "Think about. it." And as he walked out of the room, he turned around and said, "You know, one more thing. It's not a crime to kill.

someone in international waters.". Everyone except the management team, the. Dalian group, knew about the plan to. take over the ship, but not everyone was. on board with Liu and Bao Di. They were. scared. If they weren't successful, the. captain would beat them up all to a. pulp, and that was probably just the. start of it. And the plan seemed. unhinged. Liu and Bao Di's group were. going around hiding all the knives and. sharp objects on the boat. They were. going to hold the captain hostage and. hope that he just guided them back. towards China. Now, this plan was kind. of in the works for a few weeks. The.

whole thing betted on the fact that they. had to refuel. So, the boat was going to. make it back to a port in Peru, refuel, and that would be the time that they. finally take over because they need all. that fuel to get all the way to China. They can't run out of fuel, and they. can't show up at a port with the captain. held hostage. That's not going to work. So, June 16th is the day that they're. waiting for. They departed December. 27th, June 16th. So, the whole time they. still have to work. They have to make. sure that Captain Lee has no idea about. their plan to overtake the ship. And I.

would say every other week, it was a new. thing going on. One week, it'd be like, "The plan is on. We got to do this.". Then the next week, nobody would be. talking about it anymore. So, a lot of. people thought, "Maybe everybody's kind. of cooled off. The plan is off.". But Captain Lee. would make sure it happened. If you. talked back to Captain Lee, if you were. a little too slow, you would walk back. to your cabin with a black eye. Or. worse, he would degrade you, scream at. you, threaten to throw you overboard to. the sharks unless you get down on your.

knees on the squid ink-drenched sticky. floors and apologize to him. And every time he did this, the others. would just glance at each other, and they would feel a lot more sure. about their plan. But it wouldn't be Captain Lee that. dies. It'd be Chef Zia. The replacement chef that would be the. first to be murdered. June 16th, 2011, the ship refueled at a port in Peru, and. it was time. That night, Jin, this is. Liu's right-hand man, the 19-year-old, Liu, Bao Di, the Mongolian leader, and a.

few others, they barge into the. captain's cabin. "What the hell are you. guys doing?" They're standing there. "Take us home.". "No. I'm not doing this again. Go back. to your stations now.". The captain turned around expecting them. to leave, but he turned back, and they were still. there. Liu reaches into his pocket, takes out a. knife, and stabs it straight into the. captain's thigh. Blood starts gushing. out. The others knock the captain over. They just start pummeling him. All their. frustrations taking it out directly on.

his face. They lift him up, sit him down. on the chair, wrap a long, thick rope. around him. He's got nowhere to go. He's. tied to this chair now. "If you don't. take us home, we will throw you. overboard to the sharks.". "Okay. Okay, I'll take you home. None of. this is necessary. I'll take you home.". The orders were given. All workers were. to reel in the fishing equipment and. prepare to set sail. When that announcement went off, immediately the Dalian group felt like. something was wrong. They rushed towards. the captain's quarters, but they're. stopped outside by two of Liu's minions.

They're screaming at each other at this. point. They can even hear Liu screaming. from inside the captain's room, "I'll. kill all of you!". A few of the captain's men are putting. their hands in the air showing their. palms like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, it's not that serious. If every. single person wants to go home, we'll. take you home. Really, like you don't. have to be like this. Just tell us right. now, and that'll be the end of it. We. can turn around." It looks like. everything's going smoothly, but in. comes Chef Zia. He managed to find a. kitchen knife that they didn't hide, and. he's screaming, "Who do you sons of.

think you are trying to hijack a. ship?" This was not going to end well. The whole trip, Chef Zia and one of. Liu's guys have been going at it. Like. they literally tried to stab each other. last week before this. They hated each. other. And now both of them had knives. in their hands standing in front of the. captain's room. They're standing there yelling at each. other. And then Chef Zia decides he's. had enough. He walks past the other. guys, shoulder butting one of them on. his way into the captain's room. And. from behind, he hears a sharp noise. He.

looks down, and there's blood coming out. of his mouth. He had been stabbed in the back. Literally. One of the other guys takes an iron bar. and. strikes him in the back of the knees, so. he falls down into the kneeling position. coughing up blood. The guy that Chef Zia. had problems with walks around to face. him, and he's towering over him because. Chef Zia is kneeling now, stares into. his eyes, lifts his arm, and plunges the. knife into his chest now.

Liu runs over, grabs the knife from his. little minion, his friend, and instead. of stopping him or telling him, "This. isn't the way we're handling things," he. starts stabbing the chef's butt and. thighs. Everyone on the deck could hear the. screams coming from the captain's. quarters, and then they heard a splash. followed by silence. They would find out later that Chef Zia. was still alive after all the stabbings. Liu ordered his men to pick him up and. throw him overboard for the sharks. Zac was down in the deck area when this.

happened, and he remembered 19-year-old. Jin coming down from the captain's room, and he said, "Hey, you got any. cigarettes?". He sounded so normal. Zac was so scared, he quietly passed him one, and Jin's. hand was shaking when he took it from. Zac. He couldn't even light it. He just. said, "Chef Zia's dead.". Everything changed that night on that. ship. Zac was called up to Liu's group. by the man who stabbed Chef Zia, the guy. that hated Chef Zia. Zac's taking as long as he can because.

who knows? Is he getting stabbed next? I. mean, he didn't have problems with. anyone on this boat, but like these. people are unhinged. He goes there slowly. Lance, the guy who killed Chef Zia, puts. his arm around him. Zac, "Why don't you go and get some sleep. We. like breakfast early. You're going to be our next chef.". "Okay, sir." So, his name is Lance. Yeah. First killer. First killer. Lance. led him to the stairway and pushed him. forward. There was blood everywhere.

from Chef Zia's death. Zac wasn't. wearing shoes. He was barefoot. He. looked back, and Lance is like, "Come. on. Go on.". He stepped into the blood, and when he. got to his cabin, he calmly wiped his. feet, took off his rain gear, and he. laid down in his bed, and he said he. could not fall asleep the entire night. He was so scared for his life. He just. lay there thinking, "What the hell is. going to happen next here?". Actually, nobody on that ship really. slept that night. They were so scared. Bao Di, the leader of the Mongolian. group, he tried to ease the tension, and. he said, "If we're down a crew, we're.

down a crew. It's fine. When we get. back, we'll say that he fell into the. sea or was dragged down by a fish. These. things happen at sea all the time. It's. not a big deal.". That did not help anyone. Nobody got. sleep. The next day, the ship was. sailing back towards China. Captain Lee. was kept under close watch, and the rest. of the management Dalian group were. scared to do anything against the. orders. They were just doing as they. were told. Everyone felt like they had. to watch their backs. Like they could. not turn their back on anyone. They. always had to be alert, always. listening, and they still had 50 days to.

go on this ship to get back to China. It was clear that the new captains were. Liu and Bao Di. They took turns on duty. They watched the captain. They made sure. that the boat was headed towards back. home. They patrolled the deck with. knives and stakes. Zac focused on. cooking. The cargo still had fresh. vegetables, so he tried his best to cook. the yummiest food because who knows? Maybe you get off for not even cooking. good food. Who even knows anymore? And eventually, slowly, everyone starts. getting relaxed again, playing cards, smoking around each other, drinking.

Well, everybody but Lou. Something was happening with Lou. up there in his mind. Lou did not like hearing the whispers. If he felt like you were whispering with. someone, he would sneak up on you so. quietly you wouldn't even know that he's. standing inches away from your head. And. then he would loudly ask, "What are you. talking about?". Oh, jeez, nothing. Sometimes he would. scream from afar, "You guys over there, what are you gathering and speaking so. softly about? Are you afraid someone. might hear you?". He felt like he was going crazy. He knew. that people were whispering about him.

They were trying to kill him. He could. feel it. Lou went around double-checking, triple-checking that all the knives were. confiscated, the life rafts were tied up. with steel bars, and the life jackets. were also locked up so that nobody could. escape, nobody could hurt him. Lou was suspicious of everyone, even his. closest friends. Zack wasn't Lou's close. friend, but he noticed that something. very dark was happening inside of Lou. He was convinced the management team. were going to kill him and take credit. for saving the ship and crew from the. hijackers. He thought, "They're going to. go to the company and say, 'Look what I. did. Look how I stopped the hijackers.

Pay me extra money.'". The others tried to calm Lou down. "They. wouldn't do that. That would just be so. dumb. You know, I think at this point, all of us, we just want to go home. safely and put this behind us.". But one night, one of Lou's men pulled. him to the side in the cabin and he. whispered, "They're trying to fight. back. They've asked me to join up. against you, go up against you and all. of your friends.". Who is? The management team. Lou was. upset, but not surprised. "What else did. they say?". Bo, the guy who was telling him. everything he knew that the managers.

were talking about, he said, "July 20th, near the coast of Hawaii, they're going. to do something.". So, instead, that day, Lou ordered the. slaughter of six men from the management. group and Bo. If Bo is out here spilling. all the secrets of the management team, he could not be trusted with Lou's. secrets. The day of the hunt, Lou used. the loudspeakers to play music. He. didn't want the neutral people to freak. out at the sounds of murder. But all it. did was put everyone more on edge. because it's not like a soundproof.

vacuum. They can hear screams. They can. see blood. They can hear splashes of. people screaming as they're being thrown. overboard. It just feels like they're in. some sort of horror movie. The second. person to be killed on that boat was. stabbed through the back as well. The. knife went through his entire body. He. was still alive and trying to run away. from the killers, but they blocked his. path and just went into this frenzy. stabbing him. When he finally gave up fighting, they. dragged him like a ragdoll to the edge. of the boat and threw him in the water. The guy they just killed, his brother.

was on the boat, too. So, they needed to. get him next. They ran into the. brother's cabin. It was a coordinated. attack. One person grabbed the brother's. arms, pinned them upwards on the bed. The others just started stabbing. everywhere. The bed, the bedsheets, the. mattress completely soaked in blood. It. was dripping onto the floor underneath. He was dead when he was thrown. overboard, like his brother. Next, the killers started hunting the. rest of the management team. They lured. out Peter from his bedroom. They were. waiting behind the door. The minute he.

stepped out, they stabbed him. Peter. started freaking out, decided to make a. run for it. He ran to the deck and he. had a split-second choice to make. Either die by stabbing like the others, or drown. He looked down and he jumped to his. death with a squish. Lou was content, but he wasn't done. He. went into the cabins, dragged another. one out, stabbed him, threw him into the. sea, and there was just one more person. he wanted to kill that day, Wang. They. barged into Wang's cabin, just started. stabbing him everywhere. Wang was. asleep, so he woke up screaming in pain.

He's trying to grab anything nearby to. hit the killers with. He ends up falling. from his bed. They stabbed, disemboweled. him, and they taunt him, "What's the. matter? Your guts are spilling out. Oh, no, what to do now?". When they were done, the killers were. drenched in blood. Zack was in that same. room as Wang, laying frozen in his bunk. bed. Lou straightened up, turned. He's. covered in blood and he saw Zack laying. there. He looked at him and said, "I. asked you to join us at the start, but. you didn't." Wait, Zack is a roommate.

there? With Wang. So, he just witnessed the whole murder? And he did not move. He's just laying. there in fear. Wow. He just looks at him. and says, "I asked you to join us at the. start, but you wouldn't. Are you scared. now?". Zack was terrified. It seemed like Lou. was excited after the killing. He had. this huge smile on his face that Zack. would never forget, but it would not be. the last time that he saw it. Lou was no. longer a man. He was like an animal. Lou smiled and said, "Don't worry, Zack.

I'm not going to touch you. You're like. my brother.". And with that, he walked out leaving a. trail of blood behind him. Zack did not believe a single word he. said. He had known him for a few months. and there were already 10 dead people. Who could believe anything Lou said? Zack said, "You can't imagine how. powerful Lou became when he was killing. people. He was a completely different. man.". When Lou's men were too scared to. actually stab someone to death, Lou. would walk over to quote show him how. it's done. He would ruthlessly plunge. knives into victims.

and it was the full descent of Lou's. madness. He wasn't even done killing. He. was no longer the Lou that anybody. recognized. And I don't want to say that. to give this man an excuse, but he truly. becomes more and more unhinged. And I. don't think that he's insane. Like, I. don't think he could use that as a. defense, but he. he's still an animal in prison. Let's. just leave it at that. That night, the hunt continued. Bo, the. informant that warned Lou about all of. this, he was stabbed and thrown into the. water. This just became a pattern. Men.

were either stabbed and thrown into the. water, dead or alive. Others were given. a choice and I don't think they're being. nice about it. They just want to torture. you. They would give you the choice, "Don't be stabbed and see if you can. swim. Swim to land. Maybe you'll make it. Jump.". Sometimes Lou would get all Pirates of. the Caribbean or I I don't know what. movie or what reality he's living in, but he would make the men stand on the. edge of the boat and he would kick them. in the chest, like literally kick them.

off the boat into the cold, dark sea. This is the Pacific Ocean. Wait, so now. he's killing more people? Yeah, just for. fun now. Anyone he thinks is going to. kill him, Oh. he's like, "I might as. well just kill them.". I I don't even know. Maybe they're my. friend, but if I feel like they looked. at me a little weird, I might as well. just kill them. This is the Pacific Ocean. On average, it's about 13,000 ft deep. I mean, there's really no answer on what this. would feel like, but when Net is in. said, "There are problems when you're. thrown into the ocean, deep into the. ocean. First danger, drowning. But let's.

say you have a life jacket, which these. men didn't, or let's say you manage to. keep your head above water. Great, the. next danger is cold. Cold water extracts. heat from you very, very quickly. In. Arctic water, you have less than 15. minutes till things in your body start. breaking down. In 60° water, maybe a few. hours. Warmer tropical water, maybe. days. But then you have the danger of. wildlife, sharks. Time estimate on that, unknown. But let's say you can overcome. all those things. The next issue is. MAST. Moisture-associated skin damage.

The Net is in writes, "You know how your. skin gets all wrinkly in the pool after. a few hours? Your skin can start to. blister. After a day in water, your skin can. start to peel off and that would, without a doubt, attract the. aforementioned wildlife. Time to death? Probably a few days, max. And the beating tropical sun is going to. make it pretty hard to avoid drinking. the salty water all around you. Even if. you have the discipline of a Navy SEAL, you could still end up drinking some.

accidentally. Drinking this water is. only going to dehydrate you faster. Also, the salty ocean will absorb some. of your fluids through contact osmosis. Although dehydration is said to be fatal. in about 3 days, it probably be 2 days.". After the first hunt on the ship, the. loud music cut off and a total of 11. people were gone from the ship. There. were 33 people, now there's only 22. people on the ship. But it was supposed to be 23. Lou was sure. He thought about which.

people he wanted to kill. It was. premeditated. So, where did the extra. person go? Where did they go? Were they. hiding somewhere? Lou starts losing it trying to count the. life jackets, making sure none of the. rafts are missing. The college student, Michael, who came because he couldn't. find a job, he was missing. Because everybody snaps in different. ways. Michael had just graduated college and. he knew even if he made it all the way. back to land, he would never be able to. look at himself or people ever the same. Not after all the blood that he saw on. this boat. So, he jumped off the ship to.

his death. When Lou found out, he had this. incredibly condescending laugh and he. said, "Why did he jump? I wasn't going. to kill him, that poor kid. I was going. to use him as my spy.". Michael had snapped and Zack, he was in. full survival mode. His brain blocked. out how bad it was. He was blocking out. everything that he was seeing. The only. time he kind of had some sort of idea. was when he was prepping meals. He went. from prepping 32 meals to now just 22.

Once when he was serving meals, he got. so anxious, he went up to the deck and. he started pacing. He felt like he was. going to have a panic attack. And one of. Lou's guys came up to him and said, "Stop stressing out. Nobody has it in it. for you. We're all buddies. We're not. going to touch you, look, if you get a. proper job one day, I'll look out for. you, you know?". But all of it just sounded so fake. Zack. snapped at him crying, "Just warn me. first if you guys decide to kill me, okay? And I'll just throw myself. overboard, save you the trouble.". Zack started looking for small spaces to.

hide on the boat. I mean, there was. nowhere. He even briefly thought about. getting into the freshwater tank, but it. was so easy to spot him inside and. there's no way for him to close the lid. from the inside. He tried to rip up any sort of foam. insulation in the ship to see if he. could crawl into the insulation. He tried stealing a life jacket or a. raft, I mean, anything, something. All he came down to was, if he's out in. that water and he's still alive, he can. maybe eat fish eyes. They have drinkable. water content in them. That's all he knew. He was taught eat.

fish eyes if you're thirsty. But even that's pointless. In the middle. of the Pacific Ocean, they can't even. see land nearby. The closest land to. them was Japan, and Japan was a thousand. miles away at this point. If you took a. boat, you would travel a thousand. nautical miles in 5 to 10 days depending. on the boat. 5 to 10 days on a boat. There was no way. That's if the sharks. don't even get Zach first. What was the. point of staying alive in the water when. he was going to die anyway? Zach's new mission became just to stay.

alive for as long as possible because if. he were killed and thrown overboard, at. least he could be a little bit closer to. home. Maybe his parents could put him to. rest. As they got nearer to Japan, Lou. told everybody on that boat, 22 people, that he had a friend in Japan that could. get them fake passports, but they would. need to send money to get it done. He. wanted all of them to use the satellite. phone to call their families, ask them. to transfer a thousand dollars into. Lou's girlfriend's account, and she. would get them fake passports. There was just something about the way.

that Lou was urging everyone to do it. The message was very clear. The underlying message was I don't care. if you get these fake passports or not. because I don't think you're going to. get off this boat. The Mongolian group. were now getting sick of Lou. They were. sick of him bossing them around, acting. like they were dumb. They knew what he. was planning to do. They knew where that. money was going. The plan to overthrow. Lou was in the works by the Mongolians. The first step they decided was to. create chaos within Lou's group. Baodi, the Mongolian leader, would pull aside.

19-year-old Jin, Lou's 19-year-old best. friend {slash} sidekick, and he would. tell Jin that Lou plans to kill everyone. else on the boat minus a few of his old. buddies, and he was planning on escaping. to Japan without the rest of them. And. Jin's not a good candidate to keep. alive. First of all, he's too young, he's too immature. Lou might feel like. it's a risk, and he's still too frail. from being sick. Baodi's plan was to. plant seeds in Jin's mind, make him want. to move over to the Mongolian side. And. it seemed like it was working. Jin.

agreed with them. He has been ruthless. I feel like he's changed. He keeps. pressuring me to call my family to give. them money. I don't know. It's just so. heartless. Side note, Baodi approached Jin because. Jin was actually from Mongolia. So his. parents now lived in Beijing, but he was. from Mongolia. So there's a bit of an. alliance there. He chose him out of. everybody else. Immediately after their conversation, Jin went to Lou and said, "I have. something to tell you.". "What is it?" "It's really serious.". "Baodi wants me killed.".

"How did you know?" "Yes.". 4 days after the last hunt, the one that. killed a good chunk of the boat off, Lou. was planning the final slaughter. Wait, so so Jin, the little kid, immediately. sold. Okay. out to Lou. Yeah. Wow. Lou pulled up a chair in front of the. captain, who was still being held. hostage, by the way. He sat in front of. him, elbows on his knees, and he said, "I've got seven or eight men's blood on. my hand, and if the rest of you want to. live, you'll have to get blood on your. hands, too, including you, captain.

Your best friend, Officer Wang, is dead. Baodi killed him ruthlessly. I mean, I'm. evil, but he was really brutal with it. Stabbed him over and over and over. again. I mean, I thought the guy was. possessed. I don't know where he had the. energy. Not when it came to squid. fishing, that's for sure.". The captain was locked in the control. room during the hunt, and there was loud. music playing, so he had no idea who. killed who. He just knew that some of. his best friends on that boat were dead. He knew there was blood everywhere, and. a third of the crew were gone after that. night. And now Lou's telling him it was.

Baodi who killed your best friend. Captain Lee starts getting worked up at. the realization that Baodi killed his. best friend, and Lou tells him, "There's. a way to get revenge. Kill Baodi. Kill. him, and we'll let you live, too.". Lou's favorite thing on this boat was. having his friends kill people. He. called it getting their hands dirty. If. they don't have dirty hands, they would. have no incentive to not turn them in. when they got to land. He needed. everybody to be bonded by blood and. murder. He told Captain Lee if he got his hands.

dirty, he would let him live. Captain. Lee agreed. But there was another boy on that boat. that really wanted to help. Charlie. Charlie is Zach's friend who introduced. him to this squid fishing squid games. torture. Charlie really wanted to be. accepted by Lou. He practically showed. up at Lou's cabin door on a daily basis. begging him, being like, "If you ever. need anything, I'm here for you. Like, don't you ever worry. If you ever need. anything at all, if you need someone to. kill someone, I'm here for you. I can. help you.". Some argued that Charlie did everything.

he could to survive. Others argued the. guy is just bloodthirsty. I guess that's up for you to decide. But. Lou decided to use Captain Lee and. Charlie, who had been somewhat neutral. since all of this, and he would use the. two of them to lure Bao Baodi onto the. deck. That night, Baodi came onto the deck. alone. Charlie snuck up behind him, stabbed him in the back. Captain Lee. came up in front of him, pretended to. catch him from his fall, and then. stabbed him through the chest. Together, the captain and Charlie took. out their knives and plunged again and.

again. in the front and back in unison on the. boat. Baodi broke free, stumbled to the edge. of the boat, and threw himself over the. edge. Charlie smiled because it was his first. kill ever, and he smeared all the blood. over his face and screamed, "I've been. bloodied now.". Lou lured out the rest of the Mongolian. inner circle to come back onto the deck. Three of them were forced to jump into. the ocean, two of them were stabbed to. death and then flung over the side of. the ship into the water. And at this. point, there were only 16 people left on.

the boat. Lou was exhausted from his night of. killing. He ordered everybody stop, mainly himself, and he gathered. everybody's knives. He went back to his. room with two of his minions guarding. the door. But that night, after getting. zero sleep, after hearing all the. screams and just trying to ignore it and. act like nothing was happening, trying. to act invisible so that he wasn't. randomly targeted next, Zach was laying. in bed when he feels a tap on his. shoulder. It was one of Lou's guys. "Lou wants to talk to you." Zach froze. His head starts spinning. He's thinking,

"Okay, I'm next." He gets up as slowly. as possible, savoring the last moments. of his life. He's dragging his feet. following the henchman to the captain's. cabin that Lou had taken over. The door. opens, and Lou is sitting on the bed. He looks up. "Don't be scared. It's nothing. We'll be in Japan in a couple of days, and you've got nothing to worry about. You don't have blood on your hands. Anyone without blood on their hands can. just go back to China, and everything. will be fine.". Then he looked at Zach and said, "Go to the kitchen and cook some. noodles. We're starting to get hungry." Zach.

gulped, opened the door, and walked out. with his life. He was one of the lucky ones. Out of the. 33, like I said, only 15 were left now, but we know that only 11 come back, so. we still have four more to go. They were just a few days out from Japan. when everyone starts scrambling at 4:00. a.m. The ship had suddenly lost power. The engines were down, the lights are. down, the entire ship is tilting to one. side. Everyone's belongings are just. crashing into the sides of the walls. Everyone's running out of their bunk.

beds, running towards the deck and the. captain's quarters to figure out what. the hell is happening. Lou orders a. thorough check of the ship, and he. discovers two things. There were only 14. people left on the boat. So one person. is missing, and the ship's main valve. was open. The ship's valve lets water. into the main area of the ship. They. were able to stop it, block it, the stop. the water that's coming in, but it's too. late. The ship feels like it's slowly. sinking. It was discovered that in the. middle of the night while everybody. slept, one of the engineers left alive.

from the management team opened the. ship's valves deliberately trying to. kill everyone on board and then jumped. into the water himself. Lou ordered. everyone to use the water pump to help. pump out the water, but when that wasn't. working fast enough, he ordered them to. tie together all the floatable things, like planks of wood, anything. Float. them together. We need to get all the. life rafts out. They really only had. like one working life raft that was. inflatable, and they need to stock it. with food. So if this ship goes down, at. least they have food, and they can try. and survive out in the open waters.

And when the ship kept tilting. dramatically to one side, they did the. last thing you want to do after. committing mass murder on a boat. They sent out a distress signal so that. they could be found. The boat was going down. Either they all. die out at sea, or they try to find a. way out of this. Lou's survival instinct. was very strong. So there were three. people that were now loading up this. life raft, and they had plopped it into. the water. It's working. So now it's up. to them to climb down the ladder and put. the food in. So they do.

And. um Zach. Zach sees them floating away, and at. first he's confused, and he thought. something bad was happening, so he threw. them a rope, but one of the men on the. raft grabs the rope he throws at them, throws it back into the water, and he. screams, "They have knives. They're. planning on killing more men. We're not. coming back.". By the time Lou saw what was happening, the raft was so far gone out, it was the. size of your fist. Lou did not scream or. curse like everyone expected him to. He. just stared into the water. He slowly.

sat down on the deck. Everyone got. quiet. The boat is sinking, the raft is. gone, the distress signals were sent. out, but who knows if people are ever. coming. And even if they did, they were. going to die for their crimes. After a long pause, Lou got up and said, "It's fine. If they rescue us, we blame. them for everything. The people on the. raft, they killed everyone, left us for. dead. That's what we say.". Nobody was listening to him, though. They were staring behind him at the blue. water. He whipped around, and the raft. was drifting back to the boat. The. current was sending the raft back.

straight into the ship. And no amount of pedaling was helping. the escapees get away from the ship. And. any humanity left in some of these. people. broke that moment. They became full-on. animals. There's a very famous quote by Friedrich. Nietzsche, "If you gaze long into the. abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.". And maybe these men had been gazing too. long into the abyss of the ocean. because now. they were animals. It had only been 8 months when that raft.

floated back. all of them grabbed knives, squid. knives, anything they could and their. spit was spewing out of their mouths. They were screaming, their eyes were. crazed. They grabbed all the weapons, veins were popping out of their necks. and they started chucking weapons at the. raft. They were hunting for humans again. Many of the ones on the raft, the three. of them were stabbed, knives were. getting thrown and embedded into their. arms, sides, thighs, the raft. Blood was.

seeping out of the raft and making the. water around them red. One of the men, Song, he jumped into the water and. started swimming towards the ladder of. the ship and begging Lou to spare his. life. Lou ordered him to be pulled in. He had a head wound, he was bleeding. The others, they escaped but they were. screaming in the water for their lives. because the sharks are coming soon. They. could smell the blood. Lou squats down next to Song on the deck. and he grabs a paper towel and puts it. to his head. He turns around and he said, "Zac, Xavier,

you guys are the only ones. that don't have blood on your hands. Throw him into the water.". So he literally only brought him up so. that these two could get blood on their. hands. Zac was like, "What?". Like I said, you guys are the only ones. Xavier was so scared he grabbed a nearby. squid knife and he braced himself and. started speed walking towards Song but. Lou stopped him and said, "Too much of a. mess. Just tie him up and throw him into. the water.". So that's what they did. And the whole time Song was begging,

"Lou, please, we're brothers, remember? Why are you ditching me? You don't hate. me that much, right? I promise I'm not. going to say anything when I get back.". Lou just watched quietly as Song was. lifted and thrown to the water. And then. everything went silent. And almost like. some sort of pirate legend a typhoon hit. washing off a lot of the blood on the. deck and buying the crew some time. before the distress signal could be. intercepted and people would come to. rescue them. For some reason the boat. did not sink. It didn't sink but the.

engines were no longer capable of. turning back on so they can't move. So. they're just stuck in the water going. with the way of the current. Lou ordered everybody clean up the blood. and while the storm raged on and the. rain was pouring in Lou went over the. plan over and over again. Everyone took. turns memorizing it. Bowdy and his men. killed the management team off and then. the four that died on the raft, they're. the ones that killed Bowdy and the. Mongolians and then they escaped leaving. us for dead trying to sink the ship. The. last time Zac saw Lou was in prison. Zac.

was walking past Lou's cell. Lou was. laying in bed. the same way he laid on the bed on the. boat. It's like nothing had changed. He. was still on the boat in his mind it. looked like. Lou smiled at Zac through the bars. He. lifted one of his hands. pointed two fingers at Zac. cocked it like a gun. pew. shooting it at Zac and he smiled. That was the last time Zac saw Lou. before Lou died. All 11 {quote}.

survivors of the boat were found guilty. The sentences were handed out November. 14th, 2012 which side note, Lou's mom. even said none of this would have. happened if the victims were strong. swimmers. I guess implying everyone. could have swam away from a homicidal. maniac. It was just a wild statement to. make in court. Six of the men were. sentenced to death. The other five were. given lesser sentences in varying. degrees because I guess the courts. decided they didn't play as active of a. role in the killings. Zac was released after 4 years on good. behavior.

And on his way out he saw 19-year-old. Jin. And Zac asked the guards to wait. He got up to the steel bars and asked. Jin, "Hey, do you need anything? I'm. getting out. I can mail you something.". 23-year-old Jin smiled and said, "Don't. worry about it. My parents are sending. me stuff. But look after yourself and. just forget all this happened.". And with that he smiled and he waved at. Zac. Jin had been sentenced to death. Lou, Jin along with four others were. executed in 2016. Lou decided in prison.

that he was going to escape. He tried to. convince his cellmate to help him. He. was caught and uh instead of I don't. know, putting him into like solitary. confinement, they just tied him to his. bed every day by all four limbs. Yeah, he was like that for 4 years until. he was executed. Shenfa Food Company, the company that. sent the ships out, they compensated the. victims around $60,000 each. Some. victims' relatives stated they were. pressured by the food company to not. talk to the media about anything. And in. the end, nothing happened to this food.

company. And a lot of these fishing companies in. China, if you will even just Google like. squid fishing industry, it is scary. There have been bodies that have been. washed ashore notes in water bottles. filled with rice that have been washed. ashore, random people from Southeast. Asia that have been recruited to work on. these ships, they would be just dumped. on the ports like literally about to. die. And they were all on these squid. fishing boats. Like the stories coming out of there are.

really terrifying and nobody's talking. about it. Nobody. We're just eating calamari. Because I guess it's not something it. wasn't even on my radar, you know? It. was never something that comes up on. TikTok or is on the news of like, "You. guys will never guess what happened." It. just kind of gets buried with everything. else going on. But it is it's something. I would look into if you guys are into. stuff like that or just curious, intrigued, want to do something. Zac is. now back in his hometown taking care of.

his mom. His girlfriend, the whole reason he went. on this fishing trip for, she ended up. moving away and Zac knows that he could. technically go looking for her and. explain to her what happened and try to. win her over, the love of his life. but he can't. He says he feels. embarrassed even at the idea of seeing. her again. Cuz he's just a village boy and she's in. Shanghai now. And that is the story. of the crazy 8 months at sea. I mean, I. just kept thinking about this story.

because right now there's a cruise. that's going on for 9 months and I know. obviously the situation is different but. this is I think the world's longest. cruise is 9 months. It's happening right. now. I think recently it got flooded. There was a little bit of drama on. board. And I just can't imagine being. out at sea. I know they stop by the. ports and they don't go as deep into the. sea as the squid fishers nor are they. in, you know, it's a luxury cruise. It's. like $70,000 per person for 9 months. What? Yeah. What? All food included and everything but. still it's unhinged. So I get it's a.

luxury experience compared to this but I. think just the idea of being stuck on a. ship with that many people, strangers, it just feels scary. But that's it for today's video. Let me. know in the comments, what are your. thoughts on this case? Do you think that. any 33 people left on a boat would. succumb to this under the exact. circumstances that they were in? How would you have handled it? And do. you think Zac is a survivor or he's also. a villain? Let me know in the comments and stay.

safe. I will see you guys on Sunday. Bye.