The silver moon rose, casting its cold light across the ocean, like a thin veil draped over the coastline. The sea breeze brushed against Li Chuan’s face, carrying with it the scent of salt and a faint chill.

Waves lapped against the rocks, their deep echoes whispering secrets of the ocean.

As the red moon slowly rose, its light intertwined with the silver, painting the surface of the water with an eerie orange-red glow. Li Chuan’s gaze followed the retreating tide, and for a moment, his mind felt cleansed, as if all the turmoil of the past few days had been washed away.

The brief calm allowed him to distance himself from the recent chaos, as though time itself had paused in this very moment. Staring at the tranquil and magnificent scenery, Li Chuan’s tension began to ease. Perhaps, things weren’t as bad as he had thought.

He stood still, watching the two moons in the sky, feeling a rare sense of peace. This might have been the most serene moment he had experienced in days. In the distance, a seagull flew across the sky, its long call adding a touch of life to the silence.

“Why don’t we go in now?” he asked Su Na quietly, breaking the stillness.

Su Na tilted her head slightly, her gaze still fixed on the tide. She spoke slowly, “Not yet. The tide hasn’t receded far enough.” Her voice was calm, as if she was waiting for a natural occurrence rather than anticipating some disaster.

Footsteps sounded behind them, breaking the quiet of the beach. Lao Zheng’s arrival seemed to ease the tension in the air. Even though he was carrying a heavy box, a faint smile played on his lips.

Standing beside them, Lao Zheng smiled as he looked out at the water. “You know, Li, when the tide fully retreats, some very interesting things will be revealed on the seabed. But I don’t think you’ll get to see them today.”

Li Chuan’s curiosity piqued. “What kind of things?”

“Fossils of ancient sea creatures. Maybe even treasure.” Lao Zheng gave a playful wink, his tone teasing.

Li Chuan chuckled, the unease he had been feeling beginning to fade in the lighthearted atmosphere.

He looked up again at the intertwined moons in the sky, letting his mind drift. Yet, deep inside, that vague, unshakable feeling lingered, as if the calm concealed some secret waiting to be uncovered.

Suddenly, in the distance, a faint green light flashed in the sky, barely visible. Li Chuan blinked, a sense of unease creeping back into his chest.

He tried to attribute it to the shifting tides or the unusual play of moonlight, but the green glow persisted on the horizon, as if silently warning of something inescapable.

As the green light appeared, the movement of the waves began to change. The ocean seemed to shift unnaturally, as if driven by a mysterious force. The air grew heavy with moisture. Just as Li Chuan was about to take a closer look, a cold raindrop suddenly landed on the back of his hand, its chill making him instinctively jerk away.

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The drop glowed with an eerie green light. When it hit the ground, it hissed softly before evaporating into a thin mist, disappearing into the air.

He stared at the faint water mark on his hand, the unease inside him growing stronger. “These raindrops…” he muttered under his breath.

Su Na finally turned toward him, her voice cold. “Don’t touch it. During the Dual Moon Tide, these raindrops are dangerously cold. Touching too many will harm your body.” Her tone was calm, as though she was long accustomed to such strange phenomena.

Lao Zheng glanced up at the sky, a slight smile playing on his lips. “The tide brings more than just water. You’ll see more… these green drops are just the beginning.”

The lightness that Li Chuan had felt moments ago was quickly replaced by a heavy sense of dread. He looked once more at the sky where the two moons crossed paths. The previously serene scene now felt eerie, as though something unseen was watching them.

As the red moon climbed higher, the tide began to recede rapidly, accompanied by a sharp, grating sound. The glowing plants underfoot quivered gently in the water, as if drawn by some unseen force. Li Chuan instinctively stepped back, his heart racing in time with the retreating tide.

With each step he took, the plants beneath him trembled slightly, as if responding to his movement. These plants appeared natural, but their glowing light and rhythmic pulsing made him uneasy, as if he were walking across a precisely engineered device. He frowned, the suspicion in his mind growing.

Su Na broke the silence, her eyes fixed on a crack in the seabed. “If we don’t go in now, the tide will swallow everything.” Her voice was filled with urgency.

Li Chuan followed her onto the exposed seabed. Everything around him felt off, like stepping into a carefully laid trap. As the tide receded further, certain objects began to emerge from the seabed.

Li Chuan’s attention was drawn to a faintly glowing red fragment of metal, half-buried in the sand, gently quivering with the water’s movement. He crouched down and carefully picked it up.

Su Na glanced at it briefly and said in a low voice, “The Bureau conducted experiments in this area.” She didn’t elaborate, but her calm tone deepened Li Chuan’s suspicion.

Lao Zheng looked at the fragment, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “They left behind more than just this. Let’s keep moving.”

He paused and gazed at the distant crack in the seabed, his smile growing more enigmatic. “See that fissure? It leads to the cave we’ve been searching for. It’s been waiting for us, waiting for its secrets to be revealed.”

He raised his hand, pointing forward. “The path is here. Let’s go.”

The three of them carefully descended from the high ground, stepping onto the exposed seabed. The glowing plants around them seemed to be watching their every move. Each step Li Chuan took felt as though he were walking on a finely-tuned machine, as if the entire seabed was part of some grand mechanism.

“These rocks… they look like they were designed,” Li Chuan muttered, his frown deepening.

“The Bureau has been laying the groundwork here for centuries,” Su Na replied, a trace of reverence in her voice. “These structures are far more intricate than you can imagine. Every stone, every drop of water is part of their plan.”

A chill ran through Li Chuan as the realization hit him. This wasn’t just a cave. It could be the heart of a much larger scheme orchestrated by the Bureau.

Lao Zheng, walking ahead, glanced back with a knowing smile. “You’ll understand soon enough, young man. Things are never as simple as they seem.”

The trio continued deeper into the cave, eventually arriving at a hidden stone door. Lao Zheng expertly pressed a switch, and the door slowly opened, revealing a fully equipped room.

The room was filled with neatly arranged equipment, the devices emitting faint glows. Li Chuan stood at the entrance, stunned as he took it all in. This was no mere hideout.

“Welcome to our base,” Lao Zheng said with a smile, his eyes glinting with an unreadable expression.