Captain Zao

Captain Zao is a ghoul living in the Yangtze submarine in 2287.

Background
Captain Zao is a former captain of the Chinese Navy. He is the captain of a Yangtze class Submarine; the Yangtze-31.

It is not clear if he is responsible for the nuclear detonations in the Commonwealth, but he does reflect with guilt for having fired most of his ship's nuclear salvo. If China acted first in the Great War, it is possible that one of his ship's fired warheads was the big one that created the Glowing Sea.

He mentions that he has to fend off raiders at times, and that he has been observing the city from the docks since his ship hit a mine and became stranded. The rest of his crew are feral, but he cannot bring himself to kill them.

Here there be Monsters
Should you help him repair the Yangtze's reactor, he rewards you with Homing Beacons for small tactical nukes fired from the Yangtze, saying "I do not want to bring the fire home." It is not clear if he has been able to contact anyone with the Yangtze. His ship was heavily armed with several SLBMs and tactical missiles, but only one SLBM and three tactical missiles remain by the time you find him.

He has kept some of his old world mindsets, calling the player a "capitalist who expects a reward" even if you don't ask for one. He is surprised to learn how much time has actually passed since the Great War ended, but he already suspected it had been a very long time since. After you help him repair the Yangtze's reactor, he will talk about returning to China. However, the ship never leaves, and Captain Zao just keeps remarking about returning to China when you try to speak with him again.

Should you choose the option to call him a commie, your character will demand that he dies for destroying your country, and Captain Zao will immediately turn hostile and try to shoot you with his 10mm pistol. From the Sole Survivor's perspective, it is not clear if Captain Zao is indeed responsible for Boston's destruction, or if it is from another warhead not from the Yangtze. However, the Yangtze was close to Boston at the time the bombs started to hit.

If you wait to reject his plea until you hear more information, Captain Zao will merely remark how he will just keep waiting until someone else comes along who can help. Zao will also give you his sword, a Chinese officer sword named Zao's sword, if you pass all three Speech checks asking for money.

Appearances
Zao appears only in Fallout 4.

Trivia
'Zao' is probably a misspelling of the common Chinese surname 'Zhao'（趙）, since there is no real-life Chinese surname called 'Zao'. That is, however, assuming that 'Zao' is Captain Zao's surname.

Капитан Цзао