Laptop Retrieval

"Tsao: This sacred forest has been the stage for hundreds of battles, as my ancestors crushed anyone who got in their way, and you will be no different. Sly: Bentley, are you hearing this? What's he talking about? Bentley: I've heard of these types of battlegrounds before. The energy from all the fighting that has gone on before strengthens the combatants, allowing them to soar for long distances. You should be able to fly all the way across the arena with one jump! Plus, you can probably change directions in the air with your double jump."

- Just before Sly battles Tsao

"Laptop Retrieval" was a job for Bentley and Sly Cooper in "A Cold Alliance" of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves.

Background
With the preparations complete, Bentley was ready to begin the heist that would save Jing King from General Tsao. However, while he was presenting the heist to the gang in the safe house, Tsao suddenly broke in and stole the ThiefNet laptop. With Bentley panicking, Sly took over the conversation and made retrieving the laptop the gang's number one priority. He had Bentley ransack General Tsao's palace for Tsao's personal computer, just in case Tsao linked it to their laptop, while everyone else stood ready for any action.

Synopsis
To find out where Tsao escaped to, Bentley broke into his palace and hacked his personal computer, finding information on a secret passage located under the prayer bell, then a "walk across the heavens." He informed Sly and told him to bring along the Guru, as it sounded like a job for him as well. When Sly and the Guru made it to the bell, Bentley hacked the bell's controls so that Sly and the Guru could get under the bell. When the bell fell, it teleported Sly and the Guru to an exit that led to the edge of a cliff. The Guru helped Sly complete the "walk across the heavens" by levitating Tsao's guards and various objects to create a path to a faraway cliff with a cave. The Guru had to ride on Sly's back to keep the levitation going. Once they made it across to the opposite mountain, the Guru was tired from the levitation. Sly entered the cave alone, while the Guru stayed behind to rest.

The cave led to an old, massive battlefield filled with bamboo. High up on the tips of the bamboo, Sly confronted Tsao, who explained that he specifically left a trail for Sly to follow. After briefly mocking Sly's reliance on friends, Tsao explained that the sacred forest they were standing in had been the stage for hundreds of battles his ancestors fought in. Sly asked Bentley to clarify what he was saying. Bentley, familiar with this kind of battlefield, explained that the energy from all of the previous fighting strengthened the current combatants, allowing them to soar for long distances across the arena. Sly used that to his advantage during the ensuing battle with Tsao.

After defeating Tsao, Tsao laughed and dropped down into the forest, with Sly jumping down after him. Tsao "congratulated" Sly on lasting as long as he did, in the process revealing that he knew it was Sly attempting to be hired as his wedding photographer. Sly told Tsao to release Jing King and the fight would end. Tsao refused, stating that with her married under the Tsao name, a new generation of Kings would be unstoppable. He then explained that he "convinced" the Panda King to take up meditation, which made it easier for him to capture his daughter. Sly claimed Tsao to be the worst of all of the bad men he faced in his time. Tsao responded by saying it was getting much worse, as he was going easy on Sly earlier, but now he was going to get a taste of the Tsao family's ancient black magic.

The two engaged in another battle. True to his word, Tsao started using magic to summon the dead and fire-breathing dragons. However, Sly still managed to defeat him. Tsao acknowledged that he lost the battle and gave up the computer, but warned that the war was still on. Sly had no intention of dealing with him anymore, and attempted to finish him off. However, Tsao threw a smoke bomb in Sly's face and escaped, warning Sly to beware his family's power.

Aftermath
Sly, Bentley and the Guru returned to the safe house with the laptop. Bentley gave another presentation on where the gang would go from there, as Tsao's knowledge of what was on the laptop meant that the original plan to free Jing King was compromised. Bentley cooked up a new plan to free Jing King, but also announced that the new plan would also involve them raiding Tsao's loot from his treasure temple as payback. They still had work to do, as they needed to replace the Cooper Van's battery and get rid of the hopping vampires that Tsao summoned to beef up his security for the wedding.

Trivia

 * The battle with General Tsao references modern wuxia martial arts films. The first part of the battle is similar to a scene from the 2000 film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, where two characters fly and fight atop a bamboo forest. The second part of the battle is similar to a scene from the 2004 film House of Flying Daggers, where multiple characters fight on the ground of a foggy bamboo forest.
 * Until the completion of this job, ThiefNet will remain inaccessible during this episode.
 * The vases at the entrance to Tsao's palace can be destroyed here without penalty, even though "Operation: Wedding Crasher" would later reveal that breaking one of the vases should trip an alarm.
 * This is the first time a boss fight with the episode's main antagonist occurs before the final mission.
 * Although Jean Bison can be engaged in combat prior to his actual boss fight, he is unable to take damage so it does not count.
 * During the second battle, if you try to use Sly's overhead attack (, then ), he will do a regular cane swipe instead.
 * The cloud of smoke Tsao uses to get away is the same smoke the kangaroo guards use. One of the sounds the kangaroos make while doing this even plays when Tsao uses it.
 * General Tsao's escape was programmed to be a high jump where Tsao lands just off-screen to the left. This is more noticeable in the remastered version.