"What's going on over there?"
Gwen lifted her head and looked suspiciously at the huge silhouette in the distance, pointing to the dark shape on the water.
Asher's eyes followed her finger and spotted the shadow in the distance. His expression immediately turned stern as he raised the Omnitrix on his wrist, already pressing the transformation interface and cycling to Ripjaws' distinctive silhouette.
"It's the sea monster, it has to be!" Ben shouted in excitement and alarm.
"Is it really the Lake Monster?"
Instead of showing fear, Captain Shaw showed obvious excitement and eagerly returned to the driver's seat. "I'm going over there right now! I want to see with my own eyes what this creature really looks like!"
"Captain Shaw, this is very dangerous," Max stood up from his position and tried his best to dissuade the captain, but Shaw did not seem to hear him as he steered the boat directly towards the supposed "sea monster".
"Grandpa, it's okay, I'm ready to transform. As long as I can get close, I can handle the sea monster," Asher said, his hand hovering over the Omnitrix. His eyes flashed with suspicion as he studied the distant form. "Besides, I have a feeling that this might not be the sea monster at all!"
A real sea monster wouldn't appear so quietly, lying motionless on the water as if asleep.
As their boat quickly approached the mysterious figure, a calm male voice drifted across the water.
"Please don't get too close, or our two ships might collide!"
The truth was immediately revealed.
As their boat approached, they could clearly see the appearance of the supposed behemoth, which was actually a large ship the size of a small cruise ship.
On the larger boat were many people wearing matching cyan uniforms with black accents and distinctive logos.
In the front stood a stocky man with short auburn hair and a pointed goatee, looking down at Asher and the others with a friendly smile that didn't quite reach his piercing eyes.
"Some sea monster!" Captain Shaw looked at Ben with obvious annoyance and muttered a complaint under his breath.
"Haha, sorry about that, I accidentally misidentified it," Ben patted his head sheepishly, smiling to show his embarrassment.
Asher breathed a sigh of relief and lowered the hand that had been hovering over the Omnitrix, relaxing slightly. He walked curiously to the front of their boat and looked up at the man on the cruise ship. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, allow me to introduce myself, young man."
The man crouched down slightly and introduced himself with practiced kindness, "My name is Jonah Melville, and I am the founder of Friends of Fish. Everyone else here is part of our organization. We're conducting an environmental study to investigate the activities of aquatic creatures in this area."
"So you're from an environmental group."
Asher nodded in apparent understanding, though privately he remained on high alert.
There were many organizations in this country, the Nature Conservation Association, the Environmental Protection Association, and various wildlife groups. But something about this Jonah Melville made him feel uneasy, as if the man wasn't really from any legitimate environmental organization.
I remember from the original timeline that he has another identity, Asher thought, frowning as he tried to remember the details. This Jonah Melville is definitely hiding something dangerous!
"By the way, kids, what's wrong with you? Why was your boat suddenly coming so fast? They almost collided with us," Jonah's puzzled voice interrupted Asher's thoughts, though his tone remained friendly.
"Us?" Asher showed a sincere expression, playing the role of an innocent child perfectly. "You probably won't believe this, but because of the morning mist, we couldn't clearly see if it was a ship or something else from a distance. We thought it might be the Lake Monster."
"Lake monster?"
Jonah was silent for a moment, then burst into hearty laughter as if he'd heard the world's greatest joke. His crewmates joined in, their laughter echoing over the water.
Everyone seemed genuinely amused by Asher's "innocent" words, and the atmosphere grew jovial, though Asher noticed how quickly and collectively they'd dismissed the possibility.
"Why are these people so obnoxious?" Ben and Gwen both frowned, clearly annoyed by the mocking laughter.
"Forget it, I don't expect anyone else to believe us," Asher replied with peaceful resignation. He knew very well that when ordinary people encountered supernatural phenomena, their first reaction was always disbelief.
Even Captain Shaw wore an impatient expression. Although he believed in the existence of the Lake Monster, most people considered such claims to be nothing more than folklore.
"Okay, little friend," Jonah laughed for several more seconds before stopping and taking on a more serious expression. "My people are about to go into the water to observe the behavior of the fish. I just hope they don't get eaten in one bite by your sea monster!"
"Haha, goodbye kids!"
"Don't worry, we'll be back safely!"
Several crew members in diving suits walked to the edge of their ship's deck, all making half-joking comments to Asher's group before preparing to enter the water.
"You'd better be careful, I mean it," Asher shouted, raising his voice to give them a real warning, even though he knew they wouldn't believe him.
Unfortunately, the crew members responded with perfunctory acknowledgments and jumped into the lake one by one, their posture dismissive and casual.
What they were doing was essentially an active provocation of the sea monster!
"This is bad," Asher muttered, counting the people who had just jumped in. "If I have to turn into Ripjaws, I may not be able to save this many people at once."
"These people are practically asking for trouble," Gwen said, resting her chin in her hand as she looked at the lake with a worried expression.
"Never mind, let's just wait and see. If the sea monster acts, there will be obvious signs," Asher replied, always ready to transform.
Blub... blub...
Just as Asher finished speaking, the lake seemed to respond to his words as a long string of bubbles erupted from the depths, breaking the surface tension with ominous regularity.
The peaceful morning was about to become anything but.