The Manchurian Gold's hallucination makes one mistake people for monsters. While there are some cases where the effects wear off with one character saving the other, some of the death scenes are open to interpretations along with hints and implications, especially when trying different story routes from the other characters' perspectives. For example, Joe picks up the gun while Charlie picks up the knife when they hear trouble in a ship filled with dead soldiers. When they get separated, Joe will either die from a heart attack or be stabbed by a child ghost hiding in the locker. On the other hand, Charlie can be shot by a phantom of the Chinese fortune teller or die from a heart attack when the phantom opens the locker where he is hiding. In other words, Joe and Charlie may have just killed each other thinking they were monsters.
The effects of the Manchurian Gold seem to take much longer to manifest in the present, possibly because after over 70 years, it's had time to dissipate through the ship and lower its concentration, in addition to having decades to degrade - there's also holes between the floors now, so fresh air from outside can pass among the levels and weaken it too. This still works out because a note reveals that Manchurian Gold is potent even in small doses.
