Chapter 148

The Empress (3) is the one-hundred-forty-eighth chapter of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga. It is also the thirty-fifth chapter of Part III: Stardust Crusaders.

Summary
Joseph Joestar demands that Empress tell him where its user is and when the stand attached itself to his arm, but Empress refuses to tell him. Joseph decides to find the rest of the group, but Empress screams that he, Joseph Joestar, just killed the doctor and threatens the nurse. Thinking Joseph himself is saying this, the nurse calls the police, forcing him to flee.

Joseph tries to smash Empress against a wall, but it suddenly grows arms to hold itself to the wall and screams that Joseph is there, so the police can hear it. In order to free himself before the police officer shoots him, Joseph uses his technique Ripple Beat, but it fails because he can't harm his own body with his Ripple. He then uses Hermit Purple to wrap Empress and force it to let go of the wall.

Meanwhile, Jean Pierre Polnareff and Nena are walking through the streets together. Polnareff tries to show the woman that he's better than Hol Horse, but she seems uninterested. Joseph runs past them and Nena quickly distracts Polnareff to look the other way so he won't help Joseph.

As Joseph runs through the market, Empress steals food (even a living chicken) and devours everything, spitting the chicken's head off. The more it eats, the bigger Empress becomes. The Stand, now capable of reaching Joseph's face, punches him and mockingly demands that "daddy" needs to feed it more. Joseph tells the Stand he has far more fighting experience than it, but wonders how he is going to back up this statement.