Chapter 1232 Found It

Even if the seed Ego left on Earth possessed strong concealment capabilities, enough to evade many of SHIELD's high-tech detection methods, Lin Rui still didn't believe it could remain hidden under his mental energy scan. 

If he couldn't find it this way, Lin Rui would have to give up on the 50,000 Reward Points and whatever he might gain from this seed.

After leaving SHIELD's base in Colorado, Lin Rui's first stop was Star-Lord's childhood home. This place was where Star-Lord was born and where Ego and Star-Lord's mother had met, fallen in love, and known each other. However, Lin Rui held a highly skeptical attitude toward the love between Ego and Star-Lord's mother.

Describing Ego as a philanderer would be an understatement. In his pursuit of power to upgrade his planetary core, Ego had left his "seeds" everywhere in the universe, targeting command races on life-bearing planets. The bottomless pit on Ego's core planet contained a bizarre collection of bones from all types of life forms.

Arriving at the place where Star-Lord had spent his childhood, Lin Rui first scanned the rebuilt farm buildings. 

Then, he made his way towards the small forest at the edge of the farm. According to the information Ego had given Star-Lord in the original storyline, he had carefully chosen where to plant the seed, at least in a place with fertile soil and abundant resources.

Based on his assessment, Lin Rui quickly walked through the large expanse of land on the farm. This area had lost some of its fertility due to years of planting and cultivation, mainly for barley and such crops. 

Lin Rui's current target was a small forest at the edge of the farm, which seemed to fit his theory about where Ego might have planted the seed.

Whoosh.

As he stepped through the knee-high grass, Lin Rui took a brief look at the relatively small forest. Compared to the adjacent farmland, this environment was undoubtedly better. However, it wasn't entirely remote. 

Not long ago, SHIELD's teams had thoroughly searched this area, and Lin Rui could still see several deep pits that had been manually dug.

"They didn't find anything... or maybe I can still find something," Lin Rui muttered under his breath as he glanced at the pits SHIELD had excavated.

Buzz.

In the next moment, Lin Rui's powerful mental energy surged from his mind, covering the forest like a substantial force. Then, it began penetrating the ground from the surface, meticulously making its way downward.

As Lin Rui's mental energy penetrated deeper, he could see the soil, stones, and shallow-rooted plants on the surface. However, he hadn't found any trace of the seed yet. Of course, he didn't expect to find it just anywhere. 

Moreover, his current mental energy scan hadn't reached the depth of SHIELD's previous excavations. So, he continued to delve deeper into the ground.

Soon, Lin Rui's mental energy reached a depth of several dozen meters underground. Here, the soil was significantly different from the surface, and there were many rocks. Only long-standing large trees could root themselves here, and below this depth was the water table.

"Hmm? What's this..."

When Lin Rui's mental energy finally reached the water table, he discovered something. It was a subtle energy fluctuation, carrying a dormant life force.

"It couldn't really be here, could it?" Lin Rui's discovery surprised him. He had come here almost on a whim, and he couldn't believe his luck.

With a somewhat puzzled thought, Lin Rui gathered his dispersed mental energy at the peculiar spot. Then, his mental energy penetrated a special energy barrier, allowing him to "see" the dormant life energy. The moment he "saw" this entity, Lin Rui confirmed that it was the seed he had been searching for.

Although the seed Lin Rui saw through his mental energy looked vastly different from his original impression, the energy fluctuations it emitted and the hidden power it held were identical to what Lin Rui had sensed from Ego. Therefore, despite its peculiar appearance, this entity was undoubtedly the seed Ego had left on Earth.

"Ego's seed... Isn't this just too ugly!" Lin Rui couldn't help but comment as his mental energy surrounded the peculiar-looking seed. He had imagined that the seed would resemble the seeds of other Earth plants, perhaps larger due to Ego's planetary origin, but he didn't expect it to look this different.

The seed Lin Rui saw was not only much larger in size but also had a grotesque appearance, resembling a deformed purple potato covered in numerous growths. 

If he had to compare it to something he had seen before, there were similar plants on the alien planet Lin Rui and Deadpool had accidentally visited. Those were underground-dwelling, aggressive plants.

"With that energy barrier just now, it's no wonder SHIELD's team couldn't detect it. Even if they had dug this deep, they wouldn't have found it."

After scanning the seed with his mental energy, Lin Rui understood why SHIELD had failed to locate the seed despite digging so many holes in the vicinity. 

The energy barrier he had encountered earlier effectively shielded the seed from most technological detection methods and even blocked some forms of specialized energy detection. If it weren't for Lin Rui's immensely powerful mental energy and close proximity, he might not have discovered anything amiss in this area.

"Well then... I guess it's up to me to dig it out. Can't rely on those SHIELD folks," Lin Rui muttered to himself and began taking action.

Swish!

In the next moment, Lin Rui descended underground through one of the deep pits SHIELD had excavated. Then, with the formidable energy of his internal energy, it took him only a few seconds to reach the location of the seed. 

However, when he cleared away the final layer of thick soil, Lin Rui found no visible sign of the seed. But just because he couldn't see it didn't mean it didn't exist.

"It's hidden quite deep..."

Exhaling, Lin Rui extended his hand downward towards the dark soil. It seemed like he was grabbing nothing but air. However, when his hand, enveloped in internal energy, was about thirty centimeters away from the soil, it paused. 

It was clear that he had made contact with something. Then, Lin Rui's right-hand fingers tightened slightly, and he lifted it up.

Whoosh!

As Lin Rui raised his hand, the soil below seemed to loosen as if something had been extracted. Then, in Lin Rui's hand, something appeared out of thin air.

...

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