Chapter 685: Practicality

The autopsy room, tiled from floor to ceiling with silver-white tiles, was packed with forensic pathologists in white lab coats.

Senior pathologists like Zeng Lianrong and others sat on the autopsy tables nearby, while younger ones like Zhan Kan were either hunched over in the front or standing on tiptoes in the back, craning their necks.

A large, steaming iron pot was still emitting smoke, filling the room with a strange, eerie fragrance amidst the stench.

The pathologists in their white coats were also steaming with heat, breathing heavily.

Jiang Yuan lifted out the stark white skull and began to rotate it, taking photos and measurements.

Because so many peers were present, Jiang Yuan introduced the process while taking photos: "For skull reconstruction, the preliminary work is extremely tedious. First, you record certain feature points and check for any obvious traces. This is similar to what we usually do; generally speaking, it involves surgical scars, teeth, residual attachments, wounds, and so on..."

"If the victim's information can be found through other means, skull reconstruction is naturally unnecessary, as it is very time-consuming."

"After the photography is done... actually, you could use a CT scan, just like skull repair in a hospital, but we don't have such luxurious equipment, so just taking photos will suffice. Then, you label the skull."

Jiang Yuan spoke as he worked, and the pathologists nearby listened or took notes, all quite serious.

As for learning skull reconstruction, most pathologists didn't necessarily have the intention—though, deep down, everyone was certainly looking forward to learning it.

Especially the younger pathologists, who were more or less expectant; what if they had this hidden talent? After all, they had never had the opportunity to encounter skull reconstruction before.

But most pathologists were just there to take a look, broaden their horizons, and gain some understanding of the relevant information.

Here in the capital, high-end technology and top-tier experts were everywhere, so not everyone had to learn it.

However, it was still necessary to broaden one's horizons; at least one should know under what circumstances to seek help and what to do before seeking it.

Jiang Yuan also felt this was good.

Forensic pathology actually requires teamwork. The content of forensic science is so complex that no normal human could ever finish learning it all; therefore, mastering the knowledge one can and knowing how to cooperate with colleagues is the most practical operational mode.

Everyone's goal is to bring criminals to justice, and achieving this goal is enough. If the pathologists here in the capital could have a better understanding of skull reconstruction, it would be a good choice for future cooperation.

With LV5 Skull Reconstruction, it was no longer as difficult as it had been at LV4, or even early LV3.

"I am now starting to label the skull."

As Jiang Yuan spoke, he took out a small box and opened it; inside were all small white cylinders. One end of each cylinder had a number written on it, and the other end was adhesive tape.

"The numbers marked here represent the thickness of the soft tissue on the deceased's face as we estimate it. For example, for this deceased, I'll give the upper end of the upper lip 5 millimeters, and the lower end 6. Then, the upper end of the lower lip 7, and the lower end 8."

As Jiang Yuan spoke, he gently pressed the four white cylinders—5, 6, 7, and 8—onto the skull.

"Why these numbers? How to judge them? This is more complex, and it is also the first step that skull reconstruction tests us on." Jiang Yuan paused and said, "The simplest way is to check books; there is data on the thickness of facial tissues."

"However, if you want higher accuracy, you must first make an anthropological judgment of the skull. For example, their race and gender; this is the most basic. For instance, Black people naturally have thicker lips. If they are East Asian, there are differences between different ethnic groups."

"In addition, our country has a vast area and a complex history; people from different regions or ethnic groups have differences in facial tissue thickness. For example, the characteristics of ancient North Chinese people are thick, protruding lips, single eyelids, high flatness, and wheat-colored skin. Ancient North Chinese people are mainly distributed in what is now North China and Northeast China."

"Ancient South Chinese people also have protruding, thick lips, and were previously mainly distributed from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River to Lingnan..."

"The thickness of the upper and lower lips of ancient South Chinese people is consistent. Manchu people have slightly thicker lower lips, but the overall thickness is on the thinner side; Han Chinese are medium, and Zhuang people are on the thicker side..."

Jiang Yuan said a few words casually, then stopped and added, "Of course, the problems encountered by forensic anthropology in various countries are similar; everyone is multi-racial or multi-ethnic, and it is easy to encounter situations where research is insufficient regarding the characteristics."

"So the first step is to judge the ethnicity and race based on the skull." Zeng Lianrong, who was considered an expert in forensic anthropology, said this in a heavy tone.

Other pathologists nodded with furrowed brows.

Just this first step was already beyond the scope for ordinary pathologists.

Judging ethnicity and race based on skeletal remains is inherently a high-difficulty task in forensic anthropology. If the remains are replaced by a mere skull, the difficulty triples.

As everyone knows, the bone part forensic anthropologists like most is the pelvis. A pathologist with even a little foundation can judge gender based on the pelvis.

Secondly, judging height based on long bones is also a "giveaway" question.

Therefore, the combination of pelvis for gender and long bones for height is a pathologist's "fig leaf" in anthropology.

Of course, this is under the premise that there are only two genders.

In practice, because the pelvis is damaged, or simply because their level is insufficient, there are still pathologists who cannot tell the gender even when holding the pelvis.

Obviously, human disparity is not only manifested in bones.

Furthermore, the difficulty of making judgments using a skull is much higher; without flesh, many pathologists find it difficult to make accurate judgments.

Because this is not something that can be learned simply by reading a few books. A pathologist performing an appraisal must sign the appraisal report. They must use certain, unambiguous language to inform the criminal police of their judgment.

If this were an exam, a 90% accuracy rate would be far from enough, and even a 95% accuracy rate would only bring ridicule.

When hundreds of police officers across the bureau have stayed up for three days and nights without rest, walking dozens of kilometers to conduct investigations, only to find out that the pathologist got the gender of the corpse wrong, no one will offer a sympathetic and polite smile because it was only a 5% error.

Jiang Yuan quickly filled the skull surface with small white cylinders and then took more photos.

This time, the photography was more meticulous and slower.

Zeng Lianrong, sitting on the autopsy table nearby, suddenly felt a bit dispirited and said, "It usually takes a few days to mark the facial thickness, right? I've seen people take two or three weeks."

"Um... well, if the judgment isn't accurate, and you have to check books and data, it might take that long." Jiang Yuan put down the camera and nodded.

He had also come from LV3; when he first did a skull reconstruction, taking a month was considered rushing.

But now he was at LV5; frankly speaking, he could completely write a book like "Practical Skull Reconstruction" and use it as a textbook without any problem.

Coupled with the characteristics of the skill itself, not needing to check data was also one of his advantages.

It just caused a certain psychological impact on pathologists like Zeng Lianrong, who honestly relied on their genius brains and hard work.

"Then you mentioned ethnicity just now; how do you judge her ethnicity?" Zeng Lianrong asked a difficult question.

Jiang Yuan moved the stark white skull to a new position to show its characteristic side and said, "My judgment is that it contains genes from the ancient Qiang, Miao-Yao, and Sushen-Hui-Mo. Actually, you could also take DNA to check and use it as a reference. But in terms of skull reconstruction, this DNA tracing is not accurate enough; the characteristics are inconsistent, so you have to compare them to see."

"This requirement is too high." Zeng Lianrong's eyelids twitched as he listened to Jiang Yuan's answer.

Jiang Yuan said "Um": "It is a bit tending towards complexity."

His skull reconstruction skill had also just been upgraded to LV5, so he could particularly feel the increase in complexity.

It was the same skull reconstruction, but he hadn't considered things so meticulously before. Let alone comparing and judging ethnicity.

Zeng Lianrong sighed and shook his head helplessly.

Jiang Yuan could only lower his head and continue working.

After completing the photography work, it was time to import the data and start making 2D and 3D images on the computer.

In earlier years, these were actually done manually, which took longer and cost more. The requirements for pathologists were mainly in sculpture and aesthetics.

Nowadays, these steps have basically been replaced by computers, but the threshold has not been lowered because of this; it has only increased the requirement for computer operation ability.

At this step, Jiang Yuan was still handling it with ease, while Zeng Lianrong could no longer quite understand it.

Other pathologists had long since entered the stage of not understanding. Perhaps when Jiang Yuan was placing the small white cylinder markers, everyone still felt it was easy, but after this step ended, this work instantly became unfamiliar.

Some pathologists left quietly, and new ones joined to watch, but in terms of total numbers, more left than stayed.

Everyone had work to do, and just in terms of broadening their horizons, most people were already satisfied.

Jiang Yuan didn't offer any more explanations at this stage.

Without the foundation of LV2 Skull Reconstruction, it was estimated that they wouldn't even understand what they were hearing.

Jiang Yuan then entered into immersive work.

After a long time, Jiang Yuan looked up, only to see a face flash by quickly nearby.

"Pathologist Zhan." Jiang Yuan looked around and found that the autopsy room, which had been bustling just a moment ago, was now so quiet that only Zhan Kan remained.

"I just wanted to see the software you were using; I didn't mean to peek." Zhan Kan quickly explained in a low voice.

Jiang Yuan smiled and asked casually, "Interested?"

"A little, but my computer skills are average. I was just thinking, actually, if you used hand-drawn sketches, would it be easier to understand?"

"Of course. You know how to sketch?" Jiang Yuan was a bit surprised.

"I learned a bit when I was in school. I also studied sculpture for two years." Zhan Kan smiled and revealed his background, saying, "I'm from the capital. I originally wanted to follow an artistic path, but later, by a twist of fate, I studied forensic pathology."

Zhan Kan looked at Jiang Yuan with bright eyes. He had also learned about skull reconstruction before, but the things he knew were vastly different from what Jiang Yuan was demonstrating.

By comparison, Jiang Yuan's approach was clearly more attractive to him. ===== CHAPTER 686 =====