Dense ranks of crystal puppets had gathered together, forming... a black encirclement.
The reason Angel had not noticed it at first was that, at a glance, the black encirclement looked somewhat like the Bubble warehouse, since the Bubble warehouse itself was black.
"Let's go take a look."
Angel and Laplace exchanged a glance and, almost instantly reaching the same decision, sped toward the black encirclement.
Before long, they arrived near it.
Looking at the densely packed crystal puppets, Angel noticed something unusual as well.
At present, the crystal puppets in the production area were roughly divided into two groups. One group transported finished products for the various workshops and normally remained in those workshops.
Now, these crystal puppets seemed to have been confined and were unable to leave their workshops.
The other group transported materials to the various workshops, usually traveling between the smelting area and the production area.
The crystal puppets forming the black encirclement belonged to this latter group—the ones that transported materials.
And the reason they had gathered into a cluster was that, at the center of the black encirclement, stood the Mirror-Holding Banshee's Bubble workshop.
So...
Barring any surprises, these crystal puppets were likely being controlled by Elder Kongta or Napoli, specifically to isolate the Mirror-Holding Banshee's Bubble workshop.
The reason only the material-transporting puppets had been used, rather than the puppets inside the workshops, was likely to avoid disturbing the craftsmen in the surrounding workshops.
When Angel and Laplace drew near, a crystal puppet stepped forward to stop them.
"Passage ahead is temporarily prohibited. Please, you two, detour..." A mechanical voice came from its mouth.
However, before the puppet could finish speaking, a faint fluctuation appeared in its voice. "Eh? Mr. Angel, and Ms. Laplace?"
Though its voice was still an inorganic mechanical tone, the