A low, heavy boom erupted from the launch pad, like hundreds of thunderclaps exploding beside their ears at once.
Everyone watching the launch on site felt their bodies resonating with the ground.
The other specialists were used to it and barely reacted.
But it was Zhang Minglu's first time seeing a rocket launch up close in person. Swept up by the moment, he temporarily set aside his concern for the experiment and focused on experiencing the overwhelming impact on his eyes, ears, and body.
Amid the thunderous roar, flames and thick smoke engulfed the base of the launch tower, and the rocket itself began to rise.
Unlike the spectators outside, Guan Tong, seated inside the rocket, had a very different experience.
With the thick cabin walls and spacesuit muffling the sound, most of the earthshaking noise at ignition had been filtered away. What he heard was a low rumble that reminded him of diesel trucks starting up back in his hometown when he was a child.
That feeling was quickly replaced by another.
Thrust.
Or, as the professionals called it, G-force—the force of overload.
Guan Tong felt himself being pressed into his seat by that force. The thrust kept increasing, growing heavier and heavier. An ordinary person would probably find it extremely difficult to move even a finger.
But for an Ascender like Guan Tong, who had already entered the second stage, the force was actually fairly limited.
For some reason, he recalled the decapitation operation in Li Luo'an, when Adam had used a gravitational field to kill Bishop Peter. The fiftyfold gravity that had descended upon him in that instant—that had been truly terrifying.
Before long, Guan Tong felt his body begin to shake.
No, it was not his body shaking. The entire rocket was shaking.
Looks like they