Novels like The Third Republic
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as The Third Republic, best match first.
- 101 A Song for the Underworld 混子的挽歌 [Raise our cups and toast the rugged road through the underworld.] [Through blood and fury, a brotherhood that lasts a lifetime.] A naive, timid young man, to keep from losing the brothers at his side again, chooses to take up a three-foot steel blade and step into a world stained red with blood. Behind the brotherly bravado and drunken revelry of the underworld, the only things that never change are ruthless exploitation and cold reality. The people he meets make him sick. And little by little, 2.4kReads7.3Score23914d adds
- 102 The Jianghu: A True Account of Half a Life in the Underworld 江湖：混社会的半生真实经历 A chaotic age, filled with flashing blades and clashing steel! The martial world is like a cup of tea. Everyone tastes it differently. My name is Zhao Long. Back then, most people called me Long Si, Brother Si, or Fourth Master! I'm not exaggerating when I say my reputation back then was almost as great as that of the famous Fourth Master Qiao up north! I was a poor kid who couldn't afford a meal. Through sheer grit and ruthl 4.7kReads7.1Score20114d adds
- 103 Be the Cruelest One 做最狠的那个 Who says an ordinary person can't climb to the heavens one day? It was a chaotic era, an era full of opportunities, and, above all, an era when the one with the strongest fists could fill his belly. Don't look down on a poor young man, and don't go around bullying honest people. Otherwise, you might not even get the chance to regret it. 1.3kReads6.5Score—14d adds
- 104 Hong Kong Films: Transmigrating into Tung Sing, I Swindle the Boss’s Wife Out of a Billion from the Start 港片：穿越东星，开局坑大嫂十亿 Feilong transmigrates to Hong Kong Island in turbulent times, becoming a core member of East Star and the most trusted enforcer of Camel. Crow: If Chan Ho-nam takes out Brother Camel, we'll be in luck. Smiling Tiger: We can give him a hand behind the scenes. Liang Kun: Big B, if you do wrong, own up to it. If you get beaten, stand up straight. Tony: That's how we do things. Tai Bao Qiu: Leave the car here for repairs. My head's worth at least two hundred brothers. Money First: I only care about 1.6kReads5.2Score—14d adds
- 105 From School Bully to Big Shot, I Fought My Way to the Top 从校霸到大佬，一路杀疯了 The rating is still low, but it will rise as more people rate it. Read without worry: the characters won’t suddenly become stupid. [Underworld fiction + play the pig to eat the tiger + master strategist + resource consolidation] Lin Feng was born the second young master of an underworld family, yet he was determined to conquer the world through his wits. He gathered his brothers, advanced step by step, and struck decisively. Just as everyone thought he was aiming to become the school’s top bully 93Reads7.3Score—14d adds
- 106 The King of the Underworld, Forged in the Dark District 从暗黑区走出的黑道之王 (Tough gangsters + big shots from every walk of life + rich young heirs in the capital + starts at school + ruthless + a thrill ride from start to finish) The first book, The King of the Underworld: From the Dark Zone, is complete. Read with confidence, there isn't a dull moment. The sequel, King of the Underworld: I Rule with Unrivaled Power, is currently updating. The author can post ten thousand words a day, so remember to threaten him in the comments. One day, twelve young men came from the 414Reads6.9Score—14d adds
- 107 Raising the Flag on the Streets: It All Started When the Campus Beauty Confessed to Me 街头扛旗，从被校花表白开始 My new work is out! You can read it on Tomato Novel. I hope you’ll enjoy it. Your support motivates me to write, and I’ll do my best to tell every story well! 1.6kReads8.4Score11314d adds
- 108 Underworld: My Childhood Friend and I Rule the Middle School 黑道：我和发小，制霸初中 [Positive Energy] [Underworld Intrigue] [Brotherhood] [Decisive and Ruthless] Some say brotherhood has no place in this day and age. That was, until they laid a hand on my childhood friend... Xie Wendong: A man of few words and a ruthless streak, he’s always the first to grab a brick when his childhood friend is bullied. Liu Chuang: Hot-tempered and never blinks when taking a bullet for someone. Xie Wendong is the only man he’ll ever follow. 128Reads—Score—14d adds
- 109 I Tore Open the City's Dark Curtain 我撕开了都市黑幕 [Ensemble cast + underworld] This isn’t a power fantasy or a mindless story. Every character is fleshed out, and there are no absolute heroes or villains. People can be good and evil alike. All that matters is human nature and self-interest. If that bothers you, don’t read. A seemingly ordinary workplace dispute pushes a group of everyday people into the eye of the storm. Caught in the depths of this vast, dark whirlpool, where will they go from here? —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 110 The Days We Spent Together 在一起的日子 Young and reckless, we chase our dreams. Full of passion, we strive to make our mark. Come on, let's all shout it out: “Guys, let's hit the road!” 56Reads7.7Score—14d adds
- 111 The Actor and the Pawn 戏子与棋子 Passion, the martial world, ambition, the line between black and white: these were all words that once seemed far removed from my life. A chance confrontation pushed an ordinary student like me to a crossroads. Life is like a vast chessboard, with everyone playing a different role. This is my story, and it could be yours, or theirs... 2Reads6.4Score—14d adds
- 112 The Absolute Kingpin 绝对枭雄 After transferring schools, I find out my beautiful desk mate is actually my former enemy. And then... New book: Call Me a Con Artist. I hope you’ll check it out and show it some support! 279Reads8.8Score—14d adds
- 113 King of the Underworld: I Rule with Unmatched Power 黑道之王：权势滔天我为王 [Urban + underworld + feel-good power fantasy + big shot + no System + two heroines + mildly risqué] This novel is also known as "After Storming the Prison, I Became the Underworld Emperor" and "The Underworld King Who Rose from the Dark Zone", the first part. This is the second part and can be read on its own. Two chapters are all it takes to get your fix. Qin Shiyi came from the Dark Zone. He brought his brothers to Pearl City in District Two, hoping to make something of themselves. By fightin 833Reads7.0Score—14d adds
- 114 The Road Through the Martial World Is Long: I Rule the Northeast 江湖路远：我掌东北势 The short drama is now streaming on Hongguo: The Road of the Underworld Is Long, and I Rule the Northeast. Urban, Underworld, Smart Protagonist, Slow-Burn Power Fantasy Snowflakes danced in the air. Outside the prison gates. Twenty-three-year-old Wang Yun stood outside the prison gates, gazing up at the gloomy sky. Five years ago, he killed Zhang San for assaulting his mother. Today was the day he completed his sentence and was released. But when Wang Yun returned home, he discovered that his mo 5.7kReads8.8Score39114d adds
- 115 The Underworld: I Make the Rules 黑道：我才是规矩 Two years in prison, and nothing is as it was. Wherever there are people, there are rivalries and power struggles. Schemes and betrayals are everywhere, and one careless move can destroy an entire family. No matter what, the strong can turn the tables against the odds. Starting today, I make the rules in Philadelphia! 2.4kReads—Score10414d adds
- 116 Winter Reigns Supreme 凛冬为王 In 1998, Frost City was battered by wind and snow. The young Chen Lin had lost his family and been left crippled, suffering one humiliation after another. The moment he entered the underworld, he made ruthlessness his way of life and ruled the streets with his fists. From discarded pawn to overlord, he climbed to the top and became king in the depths of winter. —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 117 Oh No, This Mob Boss Can Tank a Nuclear Bomb 坏了，这黑老大能硬抗核弹 [Gangsters + No Goody-Two-Shoes + No Mindless Protagonist + Invincible in the Later Stages] Qin Dong transmigrates to the year 2004 in a parallel world, taking over the body of a small-time gangster who has done every evil imaginable and is hated by everyone. He also awakens a System that makes him stronger every time he kills someone. He can increase his strength just by devouring evil people! Infinite toughness! Infinite heat resistance! Infinite bone strength! ... Gangsters hunting him down: 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 118 Underworld Storm: The Uncrowned King 黑道风云：无冕王侯 (First person, period setting, underworld) A big brother? A big brother isn't some glamorous, all-powerful emperor who does whatever he pleases. A big brother is just the guy who picks up the tab. The underworld? It's brotherly loyalty, deceit and betrayal. It's a place that strips the tenderness from gentle-hearted men and hardens them, and turns green young boys into grizzled old gangsters. My name is Zhao Qingfeng. I've been around the underworld, and I was once a big brother! 37.3kReads9.2Score3.9k14d adds
- 119 The King of Hardened Criminals from Prison 监狱出来的悍匪之王 In 2001, Hanjiang City was named the safest city in the country. Chu Tianhong made an indelible contribution to that distinction, because two of his underlings were arrested. 23.9kReads8.8Score1.4k14d adds
- 120 The Days We Spent Running Wild Together 那些年我们一起混的日子 Those were the days we spent together. I want to say that no matter what happened, we were brothers. Later, some of us went our separate ways, and some of us died. Only then did we understand that we were true brothers. The wind carries the words we never got to finish. “Either win on your feet or die lying down. That’s our rule.” “Hello, everyone. I’m one of those guys from back in the day.” 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 121 The Days We Spent Running with the Wrong Crowd 那些年混过的日子 Young and reckless, we chased nothing but our ideals. The storms we weathered in those years, the roads we walked together, and the days we spent making our way through life. The old generation's feuds and entanglements, the younger generation's rivalries: an unknown nobody gradually grows stronger, overcoming hardship after hardship without ever giving up. 3.8kReads7.2Score17814d adds
- 122 1980: A New Order in the Underworld 一九八零：江湖新秩序 What is the martial world? Wherever there are people, there will be conflict! The strong survive, and the weak perish. That is the martial world! Relive the 1980s and pay tribute to a youth long gone! This is the story of Han Yue, and how he rose from the bottom to the top of the provincial capital, only to fall again! The road through the martial world is treacherous. Everyone survives by their own wits! Hold on, and you can make something of yourself. Give up, and you're out... (This book is p 4.4kReads8.7Score28314d adds
- 123 Northeast China Underworld: The Autobiography of a Crime Boss 东北黑道：一位黑道大哥的自传 [Urban] [Underworld] [Outlaws] [A Cast of Villains] [Justice Served] [An Unvarnished Northeastern Chinese Gangster Story] The underworld rises and falls, settling old scores in blood. To others, the jianghu is about loyalty, passion, and settling scores with a thrilling flourish. The jianghu I’ve seen is nothing but deceit and betrayal. There are no bonds of brotherhood, only greed. There is no mercy, only merciless extermination. On this road, a knife is leverage, blood is the price, and a cons 31.3kReads8.8Score1.7k14d adds
- 124 Wasteland War Rig: Building an Apocalypse Fortress by Scavenging Trash 废土战车：靠捡垃圾打造末日堡垒 Yellow sand blots out the sun, and the wasteland descends. Mutant beasts run rampant, order crumbles, and human life is worth less than grass. Qin Zheng only wants to lie flat, scrape by, get a hot meal, and make it safely through another day. Who knew that picking something up on a whim would land him a young Plane Spirit? He closes his eyes, opens them, and runs into a mad monk reborn from an ancient sage. His simple survival story instantly turns into a battle for supremacy in the wasteland. 72Reads—Score—14d adds
- 125 Dongguan: Starting by Conquering a Powerful Woman 东莞：从征服女大佬开始 [Guan City fiction + urban underworld + period drama + passionate + ultimate wish fulfillment] A man must have courage and grit. When his cousin was carried back to Niulan Village, crippled, Chen Xiaolong accompanied his cousin's wife south to Dongguan the next day. Dongguan in 2008 was a chaotic place, crowded with all kinds of people and gangs. To protect his cousin's wife, Chen Xiaolong stepped onto a blood-soaked path through the underworld. The worlds of black, gray, and white were turbulen 30.9kReads7.8Score1.7k14d adds
- 126 The Underworld: From Low-Level Thug to Godfather 黑手：从沙场小弟到江湖教父 [Modern city + underworld + multiple heroines + business rivalry + romance + powerful protagonist] Born at the bottom of society, his only choice is to defy fate and change his destiny. From the day he first wielded the butcher's knife, he could only kill gods when he met them and slay demons when they crossed his path. Then two beautiful women from Xiguan appeared: one wanted his heart, the other wanted him… [Urban power struggles + hard-core business warfare + fated romance] is a novel weaving 92Reads—Score—14d adds
- 127 Sichuan Gangsters 四川黑帮 What is the jianghu? Everyone has their own answer. But in my more than twenty years of experience, the jianghu is a game of chess, one in which everyone is both a piece and a player. Once you enter the game as a piece, there’s no way out. Once you enter the jianghu, there’s no turning back! My name is Liang Yu. I’ve been a piece, and I’ve also been a player! Note: I’m not Er Ge. I’m a huge fan of Er Ge. If you don’t know who Er Ge is, just search for Healing-Style Dou on Tomato Novel! 92Reads—Score—14d adds
- 128 I’m the Boss in Prison 我在监狱当大哥 Wang Baolong goes to prison for revenge. Prison is a school, and prison is a society in miniature. With such a long sentence ahead of him, how will he handle his relationships inside and outside? Let's wait and see! 1.7kReads—Score—14d adds
- 129 Tales of the Northeast: Fortune Is in Heaven's Hands 东北往事之富贵在天 [Underworld] [Not Mindless] [Ensemble Cast] [Realistic] [Passionate] [Not a Feel-Good Power Fantasy] After spending three years in prison for injuring someone while collecting a debt, Chen Yang’s first move after getting out is to track down the lousy bastard who reported him and got him arrested, then demand forty thousand yuan. But that incident sets off a chain of events that once again leaves Chen Yang at a crossroads, just when he had hoped to settle down. So... will he accept the hand fate 125.8kReads9.1Score11.5k14d adds
- 130 Tales of the Southern Underworld 南方黑道往事 A highly realistic and utterly authentic autobiographical story about the underworld. Many readers who have started reading have already been drawn deep into it. Open this book, and you'll see a real underworld: helplessness and betrayal, a deeply immersive world of bloodshed and brotherhood. 5.7kReads8.9Score44114d adds
- 131 Days Spent Getting By 平凡混过的日子 My name is Lu Pingfan! I'm a gangster... I founded the "Student Council" back in middle school! Years later, my brothers live ordinary lives by day, but after dark, they take their place in the underworld! I used to think that justice and honor were the guiding principles of the world! It wasn't until I heard all the things left unsaid that I realized those supposedly "high-minded" principles were nothing but the emperor's new clothes! So I decided to uphold the principles of my world in my own 29Reads8.0Score—14d adds
- 132 The Thirteen Guardians of Tang City 唐市十三太保 The Tang City Underworld Duology, Part One: The Thirteen Guardians The bigwigs of Tang City’s martial world fell one by one during the 1983 crackdown. But wherever there are people, there will always be a martial world, and new forces are already stirring! Who will become Tang City’s next underworld boss? The story of the Thirteen Guardians of Tang City begins after Qin San, Wang Wu, and Ma Liu witness their father’s execution by firing squad! 965Reads—Score—14d adds
- 133 The Years We Shared, Brothers 兄弟们的那些年 [Underworld + Ensemble Cast + Decisive Action + Dramatic Rescues + Passionate + Expansive Worldbuilding] A boy watches his parents die horrifically in a gang war, then is forced to leave school behind and descend into the bottomless abyss of the underworld. He forms a bond of life and death with four brothers, growing amid bloodshed and making his stand amid tangled grudges and passions. Through this gauntlet of flashing blades, he swears that every blood debt will be repaid in blood. 23Reads—Score10414d adds
- 134 My First Half of Life: A Bloody Underworld 我的前半生：血色江湖 [The rating just came in and it’ll keep rising, so don’t let it scare you off! This book is entirely handcrafted, and writing it isn’t easy. Hope you enjoy it!] Eight years in the army, decorated for valor, only to have his future stolen by a substitute! He moves to the city for work and tries to keep his head down, but is forced into a dead end! His brother goes to prison, and his sworn brother dies a tragic death. Good people have no way out, while the wicked run rampant! He abandons the strai 1.4kReads8.4Score13714d adds
- 135 Underworld Jianghu: From Death Row Inmate to King of the Underworld 黑道江湖：从死囚到黑道之王 [Urban + underworld + wish fulfillment + big shots + realism + no System + multiple heroines] Is the underworld all about human relationships and social etiquette? No. It’s about the relationships and social etiquette that come after the fighting. The only people qualified to sit down and talk about such things are those who have earned their place through violence. Plant your flag, make your name, set up shop, stake out your turf. In the underworld, there’s a mountain ahead of you and another b 257Reads8.5Score—14d adds
- 136 The Most Evil Jianghu 极恶江湖 (Realistic fiction, historical setting, underworld feuds, business and political battles. No harem, and not a wish-fulfillment novel! This book is divided into domestic and overseas sections. The domestic section moves at a slower pace and has a stronger period feel, while the overseas section is fast-paced and intensely exciting. You can read either section on its own with no problem.) The evil of the underworld lies in the human heart! Books are full of talk about benevolence and righteousness 23.6kReads8.3Score3.6k14d adds
- 137 I've Been Through This Underworld! 这江湖，我来过！ Back then, Beijing's nightclubs were dazzling and intoxicating, full of romance and temptation. Its underworld was a jumble of all sorts, a place where all kinds of people mixed. And its beautiful women were dazzlingly diverse, each with her own allure! Watch me carve out a world of my own in this glittering city! I settled a few scores, made a few brothers, and had a few women! I lived it up! I went wild! I hurt! I cried! Heart-pounding and soul-stirring! Looking back... I have no regrets! 188Reads6.8Score—14d adds
- 138 Jinbei Storm: A Black-Market Outlaw 晋北风云：黑道狂徒 Yanbei City is known as the Coal Capital, and coal is also called black gold. Crowds of gold seekers pour into Yanbei City, hoping to get a share of the coal industry. The various factions stop at nothing to achieve their goals. In their eyes, everything has a price, including human life. What is the underworld? The underworld is face. The underworld is brotherhood. The underworld is money. They say the coal of northern Shanxi is black, but few realize that human hearts are blacker still. After 4.2kReads9.0Score22614d adds
- 139 Underworld: Blue Skies 黑道：青天 At a class reunion, I kept a low profile and was mocked and sneered at by my former classmates and teachers. Just as I was about to leave, the class beauty from back then suddenly stood up to defend me. 22Reads—Score—14d adds
- 140 Fingertip Fate Reversal Begins with Ren Xue 指尖逆命从壬雪开始 [Coming-of-Age Main Story · Multiple Realistic Heroines · Real Cases and Social Backdrop · No Formulaic Tropes · No Mindless Wish Fulfillment] Wu De narrowly escapes death and returns to the 1980s. He has just one mission: stop the unfortunate girls of that era from turning to crime. Ren Xue, Tao Jing, Bi Limei… Some are driven to desperate ends by hatred, while others take the blame for someone they love… With nothing but nimble fingers, Wu De can fool the eye and turn the tables. He can make b —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 141 The Wolf Raises Its Head 狼抬头 When a wolf turns back, it has its reasons: either to repay a kindness or to take revenge! I stepped over one pile of bones after another, climbing step by step, rung by rung... Years later, standing on a rooftop and looking down at this city, at all those strangers who somehow seemed familiar, I knew I could never turn back! 988Reads7.1Score10114d adds
- 142 The Gray Years 灰色岁月 He walks the edge of the law, yet never crosses the line of his conscience. This is the story of a generation’s wild rise, and of one man’s redemption amid the era’s towering waves. A gritty business-war novel about the entrepreneurial boom in Pengcheng in the 1990s, it follows an ordinary man driven to desperation by fate as he defies the odds and changes his destiny in the tides of the times. 2.8kReads7.7Score24114d adds
- 143 From Rags to the Top of the Underworld 白手起家，干到黑道之巅 [Crime syndicate fiction + brotherhood + passion + shocking twists!] Beneath the gods and Buddhas, all are believers. First, crush the Azure Dragon, then wipe out the Divine Gang. I! Will become the one and only peerless gangster! 351Reads6.8Score—14d adds
- 144 Martial Arts World: I Use Mutation to Strike from a Higher Dimension 人在国术：我靠变异降维打击 Wing Chun, Xingyi, Baguazhang... This is a world where ancient martial arts reign supreme. “Everyone at school called me a drugged-up loser? I’ll make the campus belle test me for drugs with a kiss in front of everyone!” Gu Ye, a member of the gymnastics team and an “ordinary person” with zero talent for ancient martial arts, sends an Xingyi boxing prodigy flying with one move in the arena! When videos accusing him of using banned drugs go viral and the whole world points fingers at him, he grab 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 145 The Pearl River Delta Rises: The Man in Charge 风起珠三角：话事人 [Decisive and Ruthless] + [Sharp-Witted] + [Brotherhood] + [Industrial Tycoon] Pearl River Delta, 2004. It was the best of times: assembly-line machines roared day and night, and gold seemed to lie everywhere. It was also the worst of times: the urban villages were a tangled mix of people, and might made right. Chen Jun had been driven to the edge of a cliff, with a group of poor brothers who had nowhere else to go behind him. "The rules around here need to change. From now on, I'll be the one m 41Reads—Score—14d adds
- 146 The Era After the Martial World 后江湖時代 [Underworld + Passionate + Satisfying + Ensemble Cast + Jianghu + Big Shots + School + Comedy] “After midnight, we call the shots on this land, whether you’re on the right side of the law or the wrong one!” Jiang Nan stood proudly at the summit like a solitary eagle, looking down at the young generation shining like stars across the jianghu below. “The Su District...” “The tragedy from ten years ago will never happen again in our generation!” “I’ll make sure everyone knows that this era belongs 24.8kReads8.9Score1.6k14d adds
- 147 Underworld Tales: One Hand Shrouds the Heavens 黑道往事之只手遮天 [Realistic, not overpowered, no harem, no System, not reborn] A novel about the southern underworld, telling the story of several young men who avenge their brother and gradually rise to become crime bosses. Whether it is the underworld or organized crime, it is all just a game of chess, a set of rules, fraught with danger and human cunning, and driven by power and desire. Behind the bustling city lies a shadowy underworld filled with darkness and desire, where power and money intertwine, and te 413Reads8.6Score—14d adds
- 148 The Underworld: A Life in the Jianghu 黑道：人在江湖 What is the underworld? No one can really say. To me, the underworld is the jianghu. The jianghu has its own rules and its own stories. It’s not all fighting and killing. More than anything, it’s about human relationships and navigating the ways of the world. In 1996, a film about young gangsters influenced countless young people, leading them down a path of no return... That same year, after four years in prison, I walked out through those heavy doors and regained my freedom. My name is Fang We 206Reads6.7Score—14d adds
- 149 The Man Who Reached the Top of the Underworld 黑道触顶之徒 The underworld is shallow waters teeming with big shots. Thousands shout my name: Brother Tian. Xia Tian, a young man from the bottom of society in Northeast China, gets caught up by chance in the feud between two underworld bosses. From then on, he sets out to climb to the top of the criminal world. Benefactors, moles, bandits, desperados… all sorts of characters take the stage, and the action is heart-pounding. Watch as he leads his brothers from small-time nobodies to become the biggest kin 3.7kReads8.8Score25114d adds
- 150 Twenty Years of Gangland Turmoil 黑道风云二十年 I had just gone to prison when my girlfriend got together with my big brother. My name is Wang Chao, a street punk who takes loyalty seriously. The passion of the 1990s is my dream. And the youth an entire generation can never get back. With my story, I’ll look back on the glorious years we shared! 507Reads6.3Score—14d adds
